Arctic News

A new informational video launched by Arctic Council’s Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response Working Group (EPPR) in collaboration with the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO) aims to improve passenger safety during maritime emergencies in the Arctic.The video covers essential topics such as actions to take upon hearing the alarm, what to expect in lifeboats or life rafts, procedures for transferring to a rescue vessel, and what happens after being rescued.Funded by the Norwegian Coastal Administration…

Russia expects a 50% rise in voyages by foreign vessels using the Northern Sea Route (NSR) along its Arctic coast this year, which Moscow sees as an alternative to the Suez Canal, state-controlled nuclear energy firm Rosatom told Reuters on Friday.Rosatom runs a fleet of icebreakers and is in charge of operations along the NSR, which connects Russian ports with China during the summer months, saving vessels up to 10 days at sea compared to traveling via the Suez Canal.Moscow is…

As shipping activity in the Arctic and North Atlantic oceans increases with reductions in sea ice because of climate change, the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) is working to improve the safety of vessel operations and decrease the environmental impacts of shipping.In collaboration with Memorial University, the NRC through its Ocean program has created a computer modelling tool to aid in planning safe and efficient routes for Arctic voyages. And they have also developed a novel "sand box" environment to test the possible impacts of changes to shipping policies.Dr.

HX Expeditions has launched an excursion program in Arctic Canada developed in partnership with Inuit Elders, local residents and community-born staff.It marks the first time a global cruise company has introduced a community-led program of this scale in the region. Launching in summer 2025, the community-led excursions will be offered on HX’s 25-day Northwest Passage sailings: westbound from Greenland to Alaska aboard MS Fridtjof Nansen, HX’s newest hybrid-powered vessel, and eastbound from Alaska to Greenland aboard MS Roald Amundsen…

The Arctic’s bowhead whales can live for over 200 years. Imagine what they might hear in that time: screw propellers were only just being used to power ships 200 years ago, and diesel engines appeared some hundred years after that.The underwater radiated noise of shipping has grown globally, but the Arctic is a special place. It has been partially shielded from shipping noise. Sea ice shields and diffuses underwater sound, so belugas and narwhals, for example, can find shipping noise particularly disturbing – perhaps leaving the area for days.

On May 12, at the 14th meeting of the Arctic Council, representatives from the eight Arctic States and six Permanent Participant organizations met virtually to conclude Norway’s two-year chairship and mark the beginning of Denmark’s chairship.During the meeting, the Arctic States and Permanent Participants issued a joint statement (the Romssa-Tromsø Statement) reaffirming their commitment to maintaining peace, stability and cooperation in the Arctic, and acknowledged the role…

Iridium Communications and its partner Navarino are supporting the installation of Iridium Certus® terminals on a fleet of “K” Line Energy Shipping (UK) vessels operating worldwide.The Iridium Certus terminals are being utilized as a companion to Starlink terminals as part of “K” Line’s maritime hybrid connectivity solution.“K” Line is equipping its fleet with enhanced connectivity as it prepares to support Northern Lights Joint Venture, which offers CO2 transport and storage…

The Arctic, once a remote and isolated frontier, is rapidly transforming into a hub of activity. Increased shipping, resource exploration, and scientific research are reshaping the region, ushering in a new wave of challenges – particularly in the critical domain of cybersecurity. As a maritime cybersecurity expert, I observe unique threats emerging in this icy environment, where fragile infrastructure, escalating geopolitical tensions, constrained communication bandwidth, and…

Space Norway and SubCom announced that a contract is in-force for the survey, design, supply and installation of the Arctic Way Cable System. Providing necessary route diversity to a region with rapidly increasing data traffic demands, the new system will become a critical asset for transmitting data between the Norwegian mainland, Jan Mayen, and the Svalbard archipelago.SubCom will produce the components for Arctic Way at its manufacturing campus in Newington, NH, USA. The trunk-and-branch…

Russia’s Arctic oil exports to China are set to rise sharply this month buoyed by a jump in ship-to-ship transfers at sea to ensure tankers pulling into port are not on U.S. sanctions lists, according to traders and data from Vortexa.The Arctic oil business accounts for a tenth of Russia's seaborne oil exports which were hit with widened U.S. sanctions in January on nearly all tankers carrying crude oil grades such as ARCO and Novy Port and on Russian producer Gazprom Neft.To evade the curbs…

Geopolitical rivalries are intensifying in the Arctic but Russia is willing to cooperate with foreign partners, including from the West, in economic ventures there that will benefit all sides, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.In a major speech, Putin said U.S. President Donald Trump's stated intention to acquire Greenland was "serious", and it was clear that the U.S. would continue to promote its interests in the Arctic. The Greenland question had nothing to do with Russia…

The effects of climate change, technological advancements, and economic opportunities have created competition between the United States and its strategic adversaries in the Arctic region. Both Russia and China have developed Arctic strategies with geopolitical goals contrary to U.S. interests, including the control of resources and sea routes. In recent months, the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard have encountered Russian and Chinese naval vessels near Alaska.The U.S. Government…

The United States is watching growing cooperation between Russia and China in the Arctic closely and some of their recent military collaboration in the region sends "concerning signals", the U.S. Arctic ambassador said.Russia and China have stepped up military cooperation in the Arctic while deepening overall ties in recent years that include China supplying Moscow with dual-use goods despite Western sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine.Russia and the United States are among eight countries with territory in the resource-rich Arctic.

Ships carrying Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Asia are returning to the longer routes around Africa's Cape of Good Hope rather than those along the Arctic shore as the winter season begins, LSEG data showed on Thursday.Russia's new Arctic LNG 2 project also lacks enough ice-class gas carriers to continue navigation along the Northern Sea Route, although some such tankers still sail it.According to LSEG data, the conventional gas tanker LNG Megrez loaded at Yamal LNG plant on Oct. 2 and started its voyage around Africa to Asia with arrival set for Nov.

Russia has begun designing nuclear-powered submarines to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Arctic to Asia to try to nearly halve the journey time along the Northern Sea Route (NSR), a senior state official has said.Russia already uses nuclear-powered ice breakers to pave the way for such transport via the NSR, which runs along Russia's Arctic shores from Murmansk in the west to the Bering Strait in the east, a route Moscow sees as a faster alternative to the Suez Canal and has plans to develop.But Russia is suffering from a shortage of vessels able to battle thick Arctic ice…

The fifth cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia's Arctic LNG 2 has been picked up by a vessel managed by a company under U.S. sanctions, according to ship tracking data.The Arctic LNG 2 project by Russia's Novatek is also subject to Western sanctions over Russia's war with Ukraine. Novatek has said media allegations the company was involved in establishing and managing a "shadow fleet" for the Arctic LNG 2 project were untrue.On Sept. 14, the Asya Energy vessel berthed at the plant, and departed fully loaded on Sept. 15, according to data from Kpler and LSEG.

The U.S. on Thursday imposed sanctions on two companies and two vessels linked to Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project, Washington's latest step to add costs on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.The Arctic 2 project, 60% owned by Russia's Novatek had been due to become Russia's largest liquefied natural gas plant with eventual output of 19.8 million metric tons per year of LNG from three trains.Novatek may be forced to scale back the project following a a raft of U.S. sanctions including ones imposed in August.The U.S.

An oil tanker managed by an Azerbaijan-based firm is travelling the Northern Sea Route to China for the first time, taking a route so far dominated by vessels managed by Russian shipping giant Sovcomflot, according to LSEG data and two traders.The vessel Prisma is managed by a private company Vista Vvave Shipmanagement based in Azerbaijan, one of the traders said, citing the vessel's documents.Moscow wants to increase traffic via the Northern Sea Route (NSR), which runs from Murmansk near Russia's border with Norway eastwards to the Bering Strait near Alaska…

The Canadian Coast Guard has launched a new offshore oceanographic science vessel to be named the Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS) Naalak Nappaaluk.As the Canadian Coast Guard’s largest dedicated science vessel, the new ship will provide increased capability and capacity to support ocean science missions on Canada’s east coast. It will accommodate up to 34 crew and 26 Fisheries and Oceans Canada scientists and will be stationed at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Dartmouth…

Russia and China are increasingly cooperating in the Arctic region, which could impact regional stability, the U.S. military said as it released its strategy for the Arctic region on Monday.Russia has reopened hundreds of Soviet-era military sites in the Arctic, the report said. China, which describes itself as a "near-Arctic" state, also has ambitions there and has said it intended to build a "Polar Silk Road." China has its eye on mineral resources and new shipping routes as ice packs recede with rising temperatures."Increasingly…

Ships sailing through Arctic waters will no longer be able to use or carry heavy bunker fuel oil under a United Nations shipping agency regulation which took effect on Monday.Yet environmental groups say the ban does not go far enough in geographic scope or addressing dirty black carbon emissions from ships, which can darken white ice and speed up the melting wrought by climate change. The ban, adopted in 2021 by the UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO), aims to prevent…

A Chinese radio station on Monday started broadcasts on Arctic sea ice conditions off Russia's coast for vessels sailing the Northeast Passage, as China seeks to further utilise the world's northernmost routes as alternatives to the Suez Canal.Arctic sea routes are increasingly being used as an alternative global trade route connecting the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean to major economies as global warming shrinks ice packs and also allows for longer ice-free periods for vessels.China…

A floating offshore wind farm planned in Arctic waters on Friday received 2 billion Norwegian crowns ($193 million) in state funding, with Norway viewing the still costly technology as a key contributor for industry development and emission cuts.The GoliatVind project in the Barents Sea, consisting of five 15 megawatts turbines and seeking to supply power to the Arctic town of Hammerfest, beat out six other applicants in a tender by government agency Enova.Norway hopes that floating offshore wind will provide an industrial future for its offshore supply industry as well as a means of cutting e