Аннотация на статью Ice-Breaking Fleets of the United States and Canada: Assessing the Current State of Affairs and Future Plans
Relative information:
Written by: Megan Drewniak, Dimitrios Dalaklis
Title: Ice-Breaking Fleets of the United States and Canada: Assessing the Current State of Affairs and Future Plans
Publication: MDPI
Publishing language: English
Date: December 2020
Paper review:
First of all, authors described about Arctic passages. They thought the significance of Arctic route lies in its potential as an alternative to the Suez Canal Route, making the distance travelled between Asia and Europe around 40% shorter compared to crossing the Indian Ocean.
The number of vessels navigating these waters is lower compared to the Northern Sea Route. This is due to various reasons, including complex geography, ocean currents, along with drifting ice packs that block many of the entrance and exit sites. Also, there is a different view between Canada and the U.S. regarding the legal regime of the passage (Canada maintains the position that these waters are “internal” therefore fall under its jurisdiction, but the U.S. maintains the high seas status respectively). For many countries, the Arctic presents an investment opportunity to elevate their strategic and economic significance as well as boost their international status. Russia, the United States, Canada, Denmark, and Norway have all been trying to assert jurisdiction over part of the Arctic. In fact, Denmark, Canada, Norway, and Russia have already made submissions in relation to the Arctic seabed to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. Then provided with 7 routes passing through Northwest Route.
As the northern waters of the Arctic are more approachable in the near future, shipping traffic will increase and be put at risk. The forecasted increase in human activity in the region from both ships and aircrafts that will be regularly transiting or operating in the wider region in years to come is expected to place higher demands on the related infrastructure. Therefore, while the warming of the Arctic may signal the need for fewer icebreakers, the growth in shipping traffic and unpredictable environmental conditions require the United States and Canada to bolster their ice-breaking fleet.
