Polar patrol

Arctic cruises are growing in popularity. The number of cruise based tourists around Greenland doubled from 2004 to 2010 to over 30,000.

Risky business

The number of cruise based tourists around Greenland doubled from 2004 to 2010 to over 30,000. The number has fallen back to 22,000 in 2013, mostly in the summer months, with over half (12,000) visiting in September.

Cruise ship at Glacier Bay
Cruise ship at Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

The Northern Sea Route primarily lies along the northern coast of Russia.

Navigation season for transit passages in the Northern Sea Route starts approximately at the beginning of July and lasts through to the second half of November. In 2013 25 vessels said from west to east along this route and 21 sailed from east to west.

The risks for shipping in Arctic waters are high. Sailing in a remote and vast region, at times through treacherous ice choked waters, is difficult and dangerous. The International Marine. Organisation is developing a mandatory polar shipping code for the Polar Regions. The Polar Code is intended to cover the full range of shipping-related matters relevant to navigation in waters surrounding the two poles – ship design, construction and equipment; operational and training concerns; search and rescue; and, equally important, the protection of the unique environment and ecosystems of the polar regions.

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  • Look at all the parts of this section, Troubled Waters. What do you think should be in such a code for the Arctic?
  • What might the differences be between such a code in the Arctic and Antarctica?
  • Arctic bulletin 2.08 helps you to discover what is happening in the Northeast Passage.