MSC 99 expected to approve Arctic shipping proposal

Milestone Arctic protections proposed jointly by the US and Russia, to establish three new areas to be avoided in Bering strait and to set up six recommendatory two-way routes and six precautionary areas in the Bering Sea, are anticipated to be approved this week, on the sidelines of IMO’s MSC 99, underway in London.

The recent increase in economic activity in the Arctic will lead to an increased impact on the natural environment of the Arctic region. Bering Strait’s remote, arctic waters are a key area of concern for the industry, as shipping increases in a region where emergency preparedness or oil spill response is severely limited or non-existent.

In response, the pending proposal foresees the establishment of three new areas to be avoided in the Bering Strait, which will apply to ships 400 gross tonnage and above. These areas are:

• Nunivak Island ATBA
• King Island ATBA
• St. Lawrence Island ATBA

The objectives for submitting the proposed areas to be avoided aim to:

1. increase ship safety by mitigating the heightened risk created from increasing traffic and shipping activity by maintaining a safe distance between ships and the shoreline;
2. help ships avoid numerous shoals, reefs and islands, particularly where the areas have not been surveyed thoroughly;
3. reduce the risk of shipping accidents and incidents;
4. provide more time to mount a response to a developing maritime emergency e.g. a ship suffering breakdown of its propulsion machinery;
5. prevent and reduce the risk of pollution or other damage to the marine environment, including national and international recognized habitat and species; and
6. avoid the key areas of fishing activities and avoid the presence of subsistence activities.

In addition, the US has proposed protections for three marine areas critical for wildlife central to local cultures and food security. Local Bering Strait communities provided extensive input into defining the proposal and defending it at the IMO.

Except for this, the joint proposal foresees establishment of six recommendatory two-way routes and six precautionary areas in the Bering Sea. The objectives for submitting the proposed two-way routes and precautionary areas are to:

1. organize the streams of ships passing the Bering Strait and along United States and Russian coasts in the Bering Sea;
2. reduce the risks of collision and to provide adequate sea room for ships executing collision avoidance measures;
3. provide ships with a maximum amount of flexibility in avoiding ice when present;
4. focus limited survey resources in areas of greatest concentration of shipping;
5. help ships avoid numerous shoals, reefs and islands that lie close outside the two-way routes, particularly where the area has not been surveyed thoroughly;
6. enable better monitoring of a ship’s transit through the region and allow more time for intervention in case a ship suffers a breakdown of its propulsion machinery;
7. allow ships to follow well-defined routes, thereby enhancing the safety and efficiency of navigation;
8. prevent and reduce the risk of pollution or other damage to the marine environment, including national and international recognized habitat and species; and
9. avoid the key areas of fishing activities and avoid the areas of subsistence activities by local indigenous communities.

Adoption of similar routing measures and protected areas in the Aleutian Islands have dramatically shifted ships away from sensitive and dangerous areas.

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