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Call for better Arctic regulations
last update: Jun 30, 2009 08:37 AM
From an "Newsminer.com" article: Last spring, a multi-national council this spring recommended northern countries, including the United States, to adopt uniform and mandatory rules for construction of ships that access the Arctic Ocean.
With the increase of traffic it is clear that rules and guidelines for shipbuilders and Arctic countries vary or, where standardized, remain voluntary, the council reported in a major assessment of Arctic shipping. There is a call for harmonized standards and laws, made through an Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment led by the eight-nation Arctic Council.
Lawson Brigham, a former icebreaker captain now serving as professor of geography and arctic policy at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and serving as chairman of the five-year assessment project said that despite that melting, the ocean remains, and will remain, ice-covered for most of the year, justifying calls for comprehensive standards uniform enough for shipbuilders, shipping companies, national governments and others to follow regardless of home port or location.
Led by Canada, Finland and the United States, the project aimed to weigh regional, local and circumpolar perspectives, focusing on shipping activity past, current and future in Arctic waters and Brigham said that the assessment included input from a wide range of groups, including shipbuilders, northern states, insurers and shipping companies.
“There is a general lack of marine infrastructure in the Arctic, except for areas along the Norwegian coast and northwest Russia, compared to other marine regions of the world with high concentrations of ship traffic,” the assessment reads.
Read more:
Newsminer, 29th June 2009
