Red, Green, and Blue

This year, for the first time in years, the Holy Grail of northern shipping will be a reality for a few weeks. With a Europe to Asia transit length that is 5000 nautical miles shorter than that of the Panama Canal (as well as deeper and wider, therefore accommodating super-tankers too big for the Panama Canal); the opening of the Northwest Passage may signal the start to a sovereignty fight in the Arctic that has nothing to do with oil, gas, or any other kind of mineral exploration.According to Mark Serreze, a senior researcher at the University of Colorado’s National Snow and Ice Data Center, while the less used, shallower southern passage of the Northwest Passage is currently open, the more traditional northern route will open up sometime in the next few weeks, for only the second time in recorded history.

While the route will only be open for a limited time (winter comes VERY early that far north), the opening of the Northwest Passage presages the opening of a new source of tension between Canada and its maritime neighbours (the United States and Russia) as well as with other nations that would attempt to transit the Northwest Passage.

Canada has declared that due to the archipelagic nature of the north, the Northwest Passage is part of Canadian internal waters. Obviously, other maritime nations including the United States and the European Union believe that it is an international strait, allowing foreign vessels the ‘right of passage’. In a famous incident, a U.S. icebreaker transited the Northwest Passage without seeking permission from Canada, the politicial fallout resulting in President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Mulroney signing the “Arctic Cooperation” agreement, which stipulated that the United States would always ask for permission to transit the Passage, and Canada would always give said permission!

With the possibility of the Northwest Passage becoming a realistic transit route during the summer season, the question of sovereignty, and the resulting ability of Canada to enforce its domestic rules over foreign vessels, rather than helping enforce international agreements may also become tied into U.S. concerns over homeland security, including the current and potential future debates over drilling in the far north.

Environment and issues of national security; who knew that they could be related.

For More Articles on Arctic Issues, Read:

• Putin, Russia and the North
• Alaska Sues to End the Polar Bear
• Arctic Ice in Battle for its Life

Photo Credit: Redgreenandblue.org archives

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