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NOAA to update maps through Bering Straits
last update: Jul 22, 2010 01:00 PM
From various articles: NOAA's Ship "Fairweather" will map out navigational dangers through the Bering Straits in order to aid shipping.
The Arctic ice recedes and countries are looking forward to faster, safer and more efficient sea routes across the top of the world. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is responding to a request from the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, Alaska Maritime Pilots and the commercial shipping industry, sending one of its premier surveying vessels, NOAA Ship Fairweather, to detect navigational dangers in critical Arctic waters that have not been charted for more than 50 years.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said “We have seen a substantial increase in activity in the region and ships are operating with woefully outdated charts. I have introduced legislation that authorizes a significant increase in funding for mapping the Arctic, and I am pleased to see NOAA beginning the process. While this is a good start, we still need more resources to adequately map this region.”
Captain John Lowell, director of NOAA's Office of Coast Survey said “Commercial shippers aren’t the only ones needing assurances of safety in new trade routes. The additional potential for passenger cruises, commercial fishing and other economic activities add to pressures for adequate response to navigational risks.”
Sen. Mark Begich of Alaska said “In Alaska we are seeing the effects of climate change more rapidly than anywhere else in the U.S. As Arctic sea ice recedes, economic activity in the region is going to expand dramatically. Alaskans rely on NOAA to help us make sure that things like oil and gas development and marine transportation are done safely and responsibly. The 21st century mapping technology the Ketchikan-based Fairweather brings to this important charting mission is a great example of what the federal government needs to do as activity in the Arctic grows.”
Read more:
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 20th July 2010
The Arctic Sounder, 21st July 2010
