Tag: Arctic

On May 16, the IMO will start is efforts on regulation of autonomous ships with a meeting in the Maritime Safety Committee. The Danish Maritime Authority noted that the global industry needs international regulation to facilitate the use of autonomous ships, and it is looking forward to discussing the way forward within the IMO.

The video, published by ViralHog, depicts how a maritime pilot is boarding to a moving ship, near the coast of Hailuoto, Finland, when the harsh Arctic conditions won't allow pilot boats to sail. The film is reportedly dated on 2 April 2018, as the Ro-Ro cargo ship 'Tavastland' headed for the Port of Oulu.

Gathering ice samples from five regions throughout Arctic, experts at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, found up to 12,000 microplastic particles per litre of sea ice, which represents higher amount of microplastic in Arctic sea ice than ever before.  

MSC 99 will examine how the safe, secure and environmentally sound operation of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships may be introduced in IMO instruments. Previous Committee had recognized that IMO should take a proactive and leading role on this issue, given the rapid developments.

In this video Kathrin Stephen of IASS, provides 8 reasons explaining why Arctic trading will be limited and 2 reasons why that’s good. Recently, there is a major interest in Arctic shipping, but it is not clear yet if it is sustainable. There are 8 reasons why Arctic trading will be limited in the future, such as unreliability and seasonality.

Chinese and Japanese shipping companies are collaborating to create an Arctic Ocean route, with the aim to ship LNG to Asian markets. This development is an attempt which has as a target to reduce transport time by more than half. Namely, Mitsui and Cosco will cooperate, diversifying risk, as sailing in the Arctic hides many dangers.

Marine salvage experts are considering a plan to tug icebergs from Antarctica to Cape Town, as part of a strategy to solve the region’s water shortage. It is estimated that a single iceberg could produce about 150 million liters per day for about a year, around 30% of the city’s needs.

HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, announced that it will no longer provide project finance for new coal power plants, arctic drilling, as well as new tar sands projects, including the construction of any pipelines, becoming the latest in a series of international financiers to have distanced themselves from North American pipelines.

IMO MEPC 72 addressed several issues important to Arctic. These issues are a proposed ban on HFO in the Arctic, an agreement to decrease GHG emissions from shipping, and the global and local effects of a warming Arctic. Twenty-two countries supported the ban of HFO in the Arctic, which is now being considered regarding ways to assess impacts.

The 2017-built ice class tanker 'Boris Vilkitsky', which is deployed to transport gas from Russian Yamal LNG project, entered the Northern Sea Route with inoperative stern thrusters and port steering column, violating several safety rules, according to NSR Administration.