Arctic Economics

What sorts of things can go wrong in the Arctic?

 
HMCS Toronto and the Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS) Pierre Radisson in Hudson Strait.  Photo by Sergent Kevin MacAulay.  Downloaded from the Canadian Forces web site.

The Torch reports that Canadian Forces are training in the Arctic this month: Northern Operation Nanook 08.  The scenarios they're practicing:

* an outbreak of disease on a cruise ship
* a hostage-taking on a cruise ship
* a fuel spill and a fire on a Russian cargo ship

Cruise Ship Pollution in the Arctic

The number of cruise ships visiting the Arctic rose form 50 in 2004 to 250 in 2007.  Most increases were in Nunavut and Greenland (Arctic Waterways Need Protection).
 
Capt. Walter Nadolny, an assistant professor of marine transportation at the Maritime College in New York, spoke at last week's climate change planning conference in Iqaluit (What's Up In Iqaluit).  His talk emphasized pollution issues (Maritime expert urges "no go" Arctic sea lanes):

Northwest Passage Transits

The data is from Appendix F to the proceedings of the Arctic Marine Transport Workshop. The figure only includes complete transits through September 2004.  There were 99 of these.  If a transit took several years, it was assigned to the year it was completed.  Submarine transits have not been counted because only two have been reported.

Bad Things Do Happen to Good Cruise Ships

The first polar cruise ship to sink was a "veteran ice-strengthened vessel designed and purposefully outfitted for polar travel."  Not all polar cruise ships are.  The Explorer, which sank in the Antarctic last November, was no stranger to Arctic Canada - in fact - in 1984 it was the first cruise ship to transit the Northwest Passage.

Emma Stewart and Dianne Draper explain what happened, and what it means for Arctic cruise tourism The Sinking of the MS Explore: Implications for Cruise Tourism in Arctic Canada.

Everyone got off safely, but the passengers and some crew sat in lifeboats for four or five hours before help came.  It was lucky that the weather was good and there were other vessels nearby.

Stewart and Draper point out industry pre-planning helped avoid loss of life,

Canadian Polar Bear Sport Hunting Takes a Hit

Will the recent U.S. Endangered Species Act listing of the polar bear kill sport hunting for polar bears in Canada (  ;Canadians argue for polar bear hunt)?, H. Josef Hebert, AP, June 23):

Ready or not, here come the tourists

U.S. Coast Guard officials say they expect seven cruise ships with over 3,000 visitors to visit Alaska's northern coasts this summer; over 70, with 150,000 passengers are expected off Greenland.  Captain Mike Inman of the USCG is concerned about reponse capabilities in the region if something should go wrong (Arctic countries unprepared for cruise ship accidents: officials (CBC News, June 3).

Ice Diving in the White Sea

If you'd like to go scuba diving beneath the winter ice of Russia's White Sea, it'll cost $900 to $1,000 to take Aeroflot or Delta from Los Angeles or New York to Moscow.  A 27 hour train ride from Moscow to the White Sea, and a week of guided ice-diving, including training, costs another $1,750.  So maybe $3,000 in all.  For something really special, an ice diving trip at the North Pole runs about $40,000.

Mark Schoofs took the trip (to the White Sea) and wrote about it in last weekend's Wall Street Journal (Beneath the Ice, May 10-11, 2008).  Schoofs' trip was arranged and guided by RuDive:

Two former marine biologists, Dmitri Orlov and Mikhail Safonov, founded the outfit that organized this expedition, the RuDive Group, which offers world-wide scuba tours. In 1996, after the Soviet Union crumbled and science funding dried up, Mr. Safonov and Mr. Orlov began offering diving lessons, and in 1998 they began taking customers to the White Sea.

Five years ago, they opened their own diving center there... 

Hull-Penetrating Sea Ice and Cruise Ships

Will tourist cruise ships race in to take the place of Canada's shrinking Arctic sea ice?  E. J. Howell and coauthors are not sure.  Abstract:

Although cruise travel to the Canadian Arctic has grown steadily since 1984, some commentators have suggested that growth in this sector of the tourism industry might accelerate, given the warming effects of climate change that are making formerly remote Canadian Arctic communities more accessible to cruise vessels. Using sea-ice charts from the Canadian Ice Service, we argue that Global Climate Model predictions of an ice-free Arctic as early as 2050-70 may lead to a false sense of optimism regarding the potential exploitation of all Canadian Arctic waters for tourism purposes. This is because climate warming is altering the character and distribution of sea ice, increasing the likelihood of hull-penetrating, high-latitude, multi-year ice that could cause major pitfalls for future navigation in some places in Arctic Canada. These changes may have negative implications for cruise tourism in the Canadian Arctic, and, in particular, for tourist transits through the Northwest Passage and High Arctic regions.

Sea ice in Canada's Arctic : implications for cruise tourism  (Stewart, E.J.   Howell, S.E.L.   Draper, D.  Yackel, J. Tivy, A.  Arctic. 60(4): 370-380.  December 2007.)

The MS Explorer was the first cruise ship to transit the Northwest Passage in 1984.  Here she is sinking off the Antarctic last year after hitting a submerged object.  Ice may have been involved; despite the open water in this particular photo, there was a lot around.  However, the circumstances are apparently still unclear.  Here's her Wikipedia article: MS Explorer.  This story from The Times has dramatic photos which show much more ice: Iceberg blamed as passengers flee holed ship in icy waters (Will Pavia, Hannah Strange and James Bone, November 24, 2007)

Photo: Reinhard Jahn via Wikipedia.

How much is a trip to the North Pole?

Quark Expeditions (Quark Expeditions) will send you from Murmansk to the North Pole on the nuclear powered Russian ice breaker 50 Years of Victory for $22,900 to $31,900 per person. 

You'll fly from Helsinki to Murmansk (I think this is included in the price) and then spend spend about 14 days traveling to and from the pole.  Shore landings are planned in Franz Josef Land and at the pole.  A helicopter is available to take you sight seeing. When the trip is over you're flown back to Helsinki.

All the cabins on the 117 meter 50 Years have outside views and private baths.  Her crew and staff of 140 can handle 128 guests  Some Of the cabins are suites with sitting rooms.  The ship has a dining room, a professional bartender, indoor pool, gym and sauna, a library and store, and other amenities.

50 Years of Victory

The 50 Years of Victory is part of the fleet of the Murmansk Shipping Company.

Source: map and photo from the Quark Expeditions web site.