Page 11: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (December 2015)

deployments. Likewise, the Canadian Arctic Ocean seabed and to territorial ice-covered waters of the Arctic, and guards so as to promote safety, security,

Coast Guard (as well as Canadian mili- boundary disputes. Interestingly, it al- even that capability is limited by lack and environmentally responsible mari- tary forces) has assets in the Arctic dur- lows Members to have joint discussions of search and rescue, environmental re- time activity in the Arctic. Increased ing the summer, with limited capability on security issues, but limits these to op- sponse, aids to navigation, and charting maritime activity in the Arctic is inevi- during the winter. Iceland and Norway erational aspects. assets. The Arctic Coast Guard Forum is table. The Forum provides a meaningful have signi? cant search and rescue capa- The bottom line is that only Russia has intended to coordinate the best use of the approach to coordinated action in this bility, albeit somewhat limited in range. the capability to meaningfully operate in limited assets of the eight Arctic coast important and increasingly busy region.

The Arctic Coast Guard Forum will fa- cilitate coordination of search and res- cue efforts in transboundary areas and in those regions where national coast guards need additional assets.

Both the United States and Canada have committed to enhancement of ma-

The heart of a rine surveys and charting of their Arctic waters, but it is unclear how soon these destroyer lies efforts will be completed. Russia has surveyed much of its extensive Arc- tic coastal region, although it does not in every vessel always share the results. Norway and

Iceland have extensively charted their we touch.

coastal regions. Denmark and Green- land have surveyed and charted much of the coastal waters of southern Green- land, but adequate charts for the northern portion of this large island are lacking.

The Obama Administration published a National Strategy for the Arctic Region in 2013. The US Coast Guard quickly complemented this with its Arctic Strat- egy. The US Navy issued its Arctic

Roadmap the following year, laying out national strategic interests in the Arctic.

The Navy concedes that it must rely on the Coast Guard for surface operations in ice-covered Arctic waters. The problem is that the Coast Guard has only one op- erational heavy icebreaker and one me- dium icebreaker. The Canadian Coast

Guard is in only slightly better condi- tion as regards surface operations in ice- covered Arctic waters. Russia has, by far, the most extensive nuclear and non- nuclear icebreaker ? eets in the world.

President Obama recently committed his

Administration to seeking funding for a new USCG icebreaker. Even if that comes to fruition, it will be some years before such a vessel is constructed and becomes operational. Canada has also committed to construction of a new po- lar icebreaker, but funding has yet to be identi? ed. ul?o?u0o-|?b|_|_;v-l;ro?;u?v;70?|_;Cm;v|lb?b|-u?v_brvl

The ACGF Joint Statement is opera-

Commercial vessels may face different challenges than combat ships, but tional in nature. It avoids diplomatic the best ones have equipment inside that’s built to last. That’s why many issues such as overlapping claims to the commercial boat builders have turned to PEPCO – the foremost power distribution company for military boats and vehicles – to power their ships

The Author

PLAINVILLE ELECTRICAL PRODUCTS COMPANY

EW[IPP3YVIUYMTQIRXGER[MXLWXERHXLIWLSGOSJGSPPMWMSRWKYRcVIERH

Dennis L. Bryant is with Maritime Regu- ???lo?;u;7?;r1ol1ol underwater explosions during wartime. Can yours? latory Consulting, and a regular contribu- tor to Maritime Reporter & Engineering

R&?"?-??r_o|o?v;7bmb???v|u-?om? &v;o=u;?;-v;7&?"?-??bl-];u?7o;vmo|1omv?|?|;ruo7?1|ouou]-mb?-?om-?;m7ouv;l;m|o=-m?hbm70?|_;&?"?-???

News as well as online at MaritimePro- fessional.com. t: 1 352 692 5493 e: [email protected] www.marinelink.com 11

MR #12 (10-17).indd 11 12/4/2015 11:24:22 AM