SHIPPING TRAFFIC
The decrease of polar ice as the planet warms has opened up the Arctic region to a massive increase in shipping traffic, which now threatens to cause a proportionately greater environmental impact, writes David Phillips, editor of the Journal of Ship Hull Performance
Due to greater human activity, the poles are under increasing threat. Those who are genuinely concerned about the sustainability of the planet would like to see this human activity managed to allow the poles to remain as unharmed as possible.
These areas are also particularly sensitive to pollution. The ice in the polar zones also creates a hazardous and harsh environment for ships, which heightens the possibility of wrecks, spills and other forms of environmental damage.
Many feel the answer to the environmental impact of increased shipping traffic in the Arctic region includes a strict, mandatory “Polar Code” enacted at IMO level and covering safety and the environment. The drafting and adoption of such a code is proving to be frustratingly slow – too slow to keep up with the potential harm it is designed to prevent. The IMO Subcommittee on Ship Design and Equipment (DE), at its 56th session in February 2012, (DE 56), postponed action on the environmental section of the Polar Code for another year.
The development of special provisions for shipping operating in polar regions can be traced back to the early 1990s. In 2002, the IMO approved its voluntary “Guidelines for Ships Operating in Arctic Ice-Covered Waters”, MSC/Circ.1065/MEPC/Circ.399. The Antarctic was included in the voluntary guidelines in 2010. For years, member states of the IMO with particular interests in the safety and environmental aspects of shipping in polar waters have been urging the development of a mandatory code covering these aspects. In 2009, the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee assigned the task of coordinating the development of a mandatory Polar Code to the DE Subcommittee.
Diminution of Arctic sea ice
The change in the world’s climate is particularly noticeable in the Arctic, with temperatures rising almost twice as quickly as those in the rest of the world. Every year some 37,500km2 of ice are lost. Thickness and extent are on the decline.
Projections for the disappearance of ice from the Arctic Ocean have changed drastically over the last few years. It is now expected that ice will be gone from the area in the summer months as soon as 2030-40.
Arctic shipping lanes – an economically inviting alternative
Recently, large areas of ice have been disappearing during the Arctic summer. This has resulted in an opening up of the shipping lanes in the region. In 2008 for the first time both the Northwest Passage through the Canadian Arctic, and the Northern Sea Route in the Russian Arctic were in operation. The Arctic route can re- duce sailing distances by as much as 25-40% compared with routes via the Suez Canal or Panama Canal, depending on destinations.
Currently some 3,000 vessels operate in the Arctic Ocean, making about 15,000 voyages per year. These figures are predicted to increase considerably in the next ten to 20 years.
Discovery of major natural resources
Large deposits of oil and natural gas are known to exist in the Arctic region. Other natural resources such as coal and various minerals abound in the area. This has prompted new interest in the zone, which portends a substantial increase in shipping for the purpose of exploration, exploitation and transport.
Cruise ships
The tourist industry has also greatly in- creased in the Arctic and promises to expand further. An increase in marine tourism means an increase in cruise ships in Arctic waters. Large cruise ships tend to use heavy fuel oil, which has a greater impact in terms of emissions and black carbon than lighter fuel oils. These vessels are also not usually designed or strengthened for ice, yet they may make trips into Arctic waters, tending to go as near to the shore as they can, and this poses risks.
These various factors all combine to make quite real the predictions of greatly increased shipping in Arctic waters in the near future.
Safety and the environment
The predicted increase in shipping activity in polar regions raises safety and environ- mental issues.
From a safety point of view, ships travelling in these zones are subjected to extremely harsh conditions. If they are not specially reinforced and equipped and their crews suitably trained, the chances of disaster are higher than in other regions. Ice is a great hazard, as history has shown. These risks are exacerbated by a greatly reduced infra- structure for rescue and help than in more travelled zones. Navigating polar waters offers unique challenges. Rescue in Arctic conditions is also a much more difficult and dangerous proposition. Spill response is limited. Mechanical clean-up after a spill in ice-covered water is almost impossible. Various other means of clean-up are greatly hampered by the conditions.
Environmentally, there are a number of aspects that make the polar regions particularly sensitive to pollution and environmental damage. The areas are much more pristine than more populated and travelled parts of the world. The non-indigenous species count is relatively low and new invasions would be particularly harmful. Black car- bon, a component of the particulate matter (PM) emitted as a result of the partial combustion of various fuels, is considered responsible for 50% of Arctic warming. Harmful air emissions in general have a particularly harmful effect on polar regions. The toxic leachates from biocidal antifouling hull paint on ships are a threat to all the oceans but particularly to the polar regions, which are still relatively unpolluted. Copper, heavy metals and a number of co- biocides are highly toxic and have varying permanence in the water column or sediment, thus posing a threat to the food chain and ultimately human health. Being fairly fragile, these paints are rapidly stripped off by the ice, leaving their full toxic footprint in the polar environment.
Another environmental hazard to polar waters is posed by the translocation of invasive, non-indigenous aquatic species in the form of hull-borne fouling organisms. Distillate fuels, non-toxic hull coatings and fuel efficiency will all play a major part in keeping the polar environment as clean as possible despite an increase in ship traffic.
