Proceedings Of The Marine

SUM 2013

Proceedings magazine is a communication tool for the Coast Guard's Marine Safety & Security Council. Each quarterly magazine focuses on a specific theme of interest to the marine industry.

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Arctic Opportunities The Arctic Region An emerging maritime frontier. byCAPTJONATHANSPANER Director Emerging Policy U.S. Coast Guard TheCommandantoftheUnitedStatesCoastGuard, AdmiralRobertJ.PappJr.,spokeoftheArcticasan emergingfrontierduringthe2013StateoftheCoast GuardAddressinFebruary.Hesaid: "… one example of what our future holds can be seen in the emerging frontier of the Arctic, where there is a new ocean appearing. In September we observed the lowest sea ice extent in recorded history, and there are vast areas of open water where there used to be ice … . As the receding ice increasingly gives way to commercial ventures, and human and economic presence increases, so do our responsibilities. We must continue to refne our ability to provide—and then support — a persistent operational presence during periods of increasing human activity and environmental risk." TheUnitedStatesisanArcticnationwithsignifcant equitiesinthefutureoftheregion.AswithallU.S. waters,theCoastGuardisresponsibleforensuring safe,secure,andenvironmentallyresponsiblemaritimeactivityintheArctic.Oureffortsareaccomplished in close coordination with federal, state, local,tribal,andinternationalpartnerstofacilitate commerce,manageborders,andimprovedisaster resilience. TheArcticenvironmentischanging;satelliteobservationsshowdecreasingmulti-yeariceandincreasing openwaterinthesummer.Coastalvillagesareexperiencing environmental changes that make their communitiesmorepronetostormsurges,diminishing permafrost,andcoastalerosion.Althoughwintersea travelisstilllimited,maritimenavigationisbecoming morefeasibleduringthesummerandearlyautumn. Economic development, in the forms of resource 6 Proceedings Summer 2013 extraction,adventuretourism,andtrans-Arcticshipping,aredrivingmuchofthecurrentactivityinthe region. The Arctic region is believed to contain an estimated13percentoftheworld'sundiscoveredoiland 30percentofundiscoveredgas.Decreasingseaice anddiminishingonshoreoilproductionarecreatingincentivesforoffshoreexploration.Concurrently, tourismisincreasingrapidlyintheArctic.Dueto undevelopedlandsideinfrastructure,muchofthe increasedtourismisexpectedtoinvolvetransportationviapassengervessel,whichwillfurtherincrease activityinArcticwaters.Eachoftheseactivitiescarriesmaritimerisk,whichmustbemanagedthrough appropriate maritime governance. The Arctic region presents numerous operational challengesincludingextremeweather,limitedinfrastructure,vastdistances,andremotecommunities. TheCoastGuardcurrentlyemploysmobilecommand andcontrolplatforms,suchastheNationalSecurity Cutter,tomeetseasonalArcticinfrastructurerequirementsaswellasseasonalairandcommunications capabilities.Ourapproachassistsinprovidingbordersecurity,environmentalprotection,community resilience, and other maritime governance priorities. Overall,economicgrowthanddevelopmentareshapingthefutureoftheArctic,whilethechanceofmilitaryconfictremainsextremelyremote.Indeed,there isanewandhistoricmaritimefrontieropeningright beforeoureyes,andmoderntechnologyandcapabilitiesarehelpingtoensuredeliberateandresponsible development. www.uscg.mil/proceedings

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