Gazprom Neft ships the first "Arctic Oil" from Prirazlomnoye, site of the Arctic Sunrise protest last fall

GCaptain and others report that on Friday, April 18, Gazprom Neft shipped the  first 70,000 metric tons of "Arctic Oil" from its Prirazlomnoye platform. Platts reports that the Prirazlomonoye field,  some 60 km offshore the Pechora Sea, "is expected to reach its peak output of some 6 million mt/yer, or 120,000 b/d, by 2020."

According to Reuters, President Putin, speaking by video to workers on the platform, stated:  "This, in essence, is the beginning of great and large-scale extraction of minerals and oil by our country in the Arctic." 

Russian environmental groups, among others, have expressed concern about Russia's ability to operate the remote platform safely. The Greenpeace protest there last fall led to the crew's detention, its vessel's impounding and the Netherlands request for provisional measures from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). On November 22, 2013, ITLOS ordered the release of the Arctic Sunrise and the detained persons upon the posting of a bond. Russia did not appear at the hearing, having rejected the tribunal's jurisdiction. For more on the jurisdictional aspects of the case see this ASIL Insights posting. The crew have all been released; Greenpeace filed a formal petition for the vessel's release on March 3, 2014.

1) U.S. Think tanks weigh in on Arctic Oil and Gas Development 2) Fourth Anniversary of Deepwater Horizon: Arctic Lessons

Three recent publications from Washington DC/New York think tanks in late March all address Arctic security and resource development from a U.S. perspective:

The Brookings Institution
Policy Brief | March 24, 2014
Offshore Oil and Gas Governance in the Arctic: A Leadership Role for the U.S.
http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2014/03/offshore-oil-gas-governance-arctic

The Center for a New American Security
Policy Brief | March 25, 2014
Emerging Arctic Security Challenges
http://www.cnas.org/Emerging-Arctic-Security-Challenges#.Uzq2Wce-iTY

The Council on Foreign Relations
CFR "InfoGuide" | March 25, 2014
The Emerging Arctic
http://www.cfr.org/polar-regions/emerging-arctic/p32620#!/?cid=otr_marketing_use-arctic_Infoguide#!

Also, on April 20th the Fourth Anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon is upon us, and at least two U.S. institutions are marking it by drawing lessons learned for Arctic drilling:

April 17 Resources for the Future: http://www.rff.org/Events/Pages/From-the-Gulf-to-the-Arctic-What-Have-We-Learned-Since-the-Deepwater-Horizon-Spill.aspx

UPDATE 5/7/2014: For a report on the Resources for the Future event see the story in Oil and Gas Journal: http://www.ogj.com/articles/print/volume-112/issue-4c/general-interest/four-years-after-macondo-offshore-arctic-beckons-speakers-warn.html, with reporting as well on an April 21 conference sponsored by the Bipartisan Policy Council 

April 25  Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment/Duke Energy Initiative - https://sites.nicholas.duke.edu/loribennear/arctic-access-workshop-2014/

Notably, the federal regulator responsible for offshore oil and gas development on the U.S. outer continental shelf in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas is expected to issue ARCTIC SPECIFIC regulations soon.  The rule-making was announced last year: U.S. Dep’t of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM) and Bureau of Safety and Environment and Enforcement (BSEE) Review of Alaska Outer Continental Shelf Oil & Gas Drilling Standards, REGULATIONS.GOV (June 6, 2013), http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=BOEM-2013-0035 .  I will write again when the regulations are promulgated.

In this connection see the Pew Environment site
1) for its excellent paper that has helped inform the expected Arctic-specific U.S. offshore regulations (an early version was submitted during the public comment period) http://www.pewenvironment.org/news-room/reports/arctic-standards-recommendations-on-oil-spill-prevention-response-and-safety-85899506213
 and
2) for a blog entry also marking the Fourth Anniversary of the DWH  http://www.pewenvironment.org/news-room/other-resources/the-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill-four-years-later-85899543841

This United States-specific blogpost concludes with a long overdue reference to a December 2013 White Paper by Professor Wendy Jacobs and her students at Harvard's Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic on "Suggested Indicators of Environmentally Responsible Performance of Offshore Oil and Gas Companies Proposing to Drill in the U.S. Arctic," available here: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/environmentallawprogram/clinic-report-identifies-environmental-performance-indicators-for-companies-proposing-to-drill-in-the-u-s-arctic/

Oceanlaw.org and the Rule of Law Committee for the Oceans

Many readers of this blog will be familiar with The Rule of Law Committee for the Oceans, directed by Caitlyn Antrim.  Earlier this week ROLCO re-launched its website, which is now available at oceanlaw.org. The site covers a much broader range of topics than the Arctic Oceans, but it provides essential context for the importance of the Law of the Sea Convention to the Arctic.

Canada's Partial Submission (Atlantic) and Preliminary Indication (Arctic) to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf/CLCS

Given last week's notable events  surrounding the Canadian Submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), your blogger is resurfacing before her promised 2014 re-start date to post a bare minimum of some of the most helpful links on the topic.  Regular posts will resume in the New Year, with the end of your blogger's sabbatical and her return from Alaska.

December 7, 2013, was the ten year anniversary of Canada joining the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Under  Convention rules, December 6, 2013, was Canada's deadline for submitting information to the CLCS on the limits of the Canadian continental shelf.

Canadian scientists and diplomats have been laying the groundwork for Canada's CLCS submission for approximately a decade. Canada's partial submission to the CLCS on December 6 covered Atlantic Canada [link to the Executive Summary in English or French] but not the Arctic Ocean. Instead, Canada filed Preliminary Information for the Arctic region [link to the PI in English or French].  Some had anticipated that Canada would include both regions in one submission but media reports surfaced last week that Prime Minister Harper had requested further information regarding the relationship between North Pole and the Canadian submission. According to media reports the North Pole was not included in the continental shelf information to which the Prime Minister was reacting.  The Canadian Broadcasting Company, reporting on a December 9, 2013, news conference, quoted Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird explaining Canada's approach:

"We have asked our officials and scientists to do additional work and necessary work to ensure that a submission for the full extent of the continental shelf in the Arctic includes Canada's claim to the North Pole," said Baird.

Several Canada-based media sources include interpretations of last week's events from two Canadian scholars of international policy, Michael Byers and Rob Hubert.  The Christian Science Monitor interprets Russian Prime Minister Putin's order last week to increase military presence in the Arctic as a direct response to the Canadian Preliminary Information at the CLCS regarding the Arctic.  By contrast, Xinhua and the India Daily News reflect a more measured approach, both quoting Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Sergei Donskoy, as saying:

'Actual delimitation of the continental shelf in the Northern Ocean is not today's or even tomorrow's issue.' Donskoy said Russia, Canada and Denmark have the common interest of persuading the CLCS of the geological composition of the Northern Ocean's bed.

Russia and the Kingdom of Denmark, by virtue of Greenland, are considered to have the potential to include the North Pole in their submissions to the CLCS.  A cursory listing of Arctic-relevant submissions to date, and anticipated future submissions, is provided by the Arctic Institute of North America.

The CLCS will consider  Canada's Partial Submission for the Atlantic region in summer 2014, as the CLCS indicated in its Statement regarding the Partial Submission:

"The consideration of the partial submission made by Canada will be included in the provisional agenda of the thirty-fifth session of the Commission to be held during July-August 2014."

NOAA Arctic Report Card issued today at American Geophysical Union

Also of note is today's release of NOAA's annual Arctic Report Card, which is an international undertaking: 147 authors from 14 countries contributed. The press release is reproduced here.

For Immediate Release December 12, 2013

2013 Arctic Report Card Released Today at AGU Fall Meeting

San Francisco, CA - While fewer snow and ice extremes occurred in 2013 relative to 2012, and environmental observations in Alaska and throughout the Arctic showed annual and regional variability, the impact of the region's persistent, long-term warming trend remains demonstrable, according to the just-released 2013 update to the http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcard/. The Report Card is a peer-reviewed source for environmental information on the current state of the Arctic relative to historical records.

The release of the 2013 Report Card was announced today at the American Geophysical Union's Fall Meeting at a 9:00 am press conference at Moscone Center West (room 3001A) in San Francisco. Dr. Martin Jeffries, science advisor at the US Arctic Research Commission and principal editor of the report, was on the panel that described some of the highlights of 2013 in the Arctic.

Key observations revealed in the Report Card update show:

• Snow extent in May 2013 reached a new record low in Eurasia, due to above average air temperatures, while Northern Hemisphere-wide snow extent was below average for spring (April, May, June).
• Summer surface air temperatures were particularly low across the central Arctic Ocean, northern Canada and Greenland relative to 2007-2012 (a period of pronounced summer sea ice retreat), and were somewhat lower than the long-term average of 1981-2010.
• Minimum sea ice extent in September 2013 was not as low as the record minimum of 2012, but was nevertheless the sixth lowest since observations began in 1979 despite the relatively cool summer of 2013. The seven lowest ice extent minima have occurred in the last seven years, 2007-2013.
• Arctic tundra vegetation greenness (a measure of biological productivity) and growing season length have continued to increase since observations began in 1982.
• Large land mammals convey a mixed message, with Muskox numbers stable/increasing since the 1970s, while many caribou and reindeer herds currently have unusually low populations for the period 1970-2013.
• Changes in fish and bottom dwelling organisms include continued northward migration of species not previously seen in the Arctic.

"The Arctic Report Card illustrates the importance of long-term observations of the Arctic environment," said Fran Ulmer, Chair, US Arctic Research Commission. "We need an integrated, pan-Arctic observing system that helps us better understand this sensitive region's current changes and make improved projections for what the future holds."

The 2013 Report Card comprises 18 essays prepared by an international team of 147 authors from 14 different countries. It is intended for a wide audience, including scientists, teachers, students, decision-makers and the general public interested in the Arctic environment and science.

USARC's mission is to develop and recommend US Arctic research policy to the President and Congress and to build cooperative links in Arctic research within the federal government, with Arctic residents, the State of Alaska, researchers and international partners. Visit the USARC at www.arctic.gov and subscribe to our daily electronic newsletter, the "Arctic Daily Update," which provides useful information about recent events, conferences, research initiatives and international news.

###

Media Contact: Kathy Farrow, 703-525-0112 (o), 703-851-7332 (c), kfarrow@arctic.gov

Blog Break

Your blogger is on leave for 2012-2013, splitting  time between Alaska and Washington D.C. and planning to resume regular postings in 2014 speaking, as always, in her personal capacity.

Is the Tide Turning for the Law of the Sea Convention? Conservatives push for U.S. accession by year's end..

Regular readers of this blog are familiar with the arguments for U.S. accession to the Law of the Sea Convention (simply look to the upper right corner of this page for a partial listing of support).  They are likely also familiar with the misinformation that opponents have spread about the Convention.  A conservative think tank, the Institute for Liberty, has done its own research and changed its mind, arguing forcefully for U.S. accession before the end of 2012.  The institute launched an initiative in August 2012 to promote accession and yesterday its President, Andrew Langer,published a lengthy piece in Real Clear Politics debunking the opposition myths.

Regular readers also know this blogger's mantra that cooperation, not conflict, rules the day in the Arctic (for a recent piece to that effect see OGEL's special 2012 issue on the Arctic).  While Langer sees a "new Cold War" in the Arctic, he overlooks the fact that Russia is following the same rules and procedures to delineate the extent of its shelf that the Convention prescribes for all states. Notwithstanding this blogger's disagreement on that point, the article is worth a full read, especially for its point-by-point responses to the "disinformation" spread by the Convention's opponents.  Thanks to Caitlyn Antrim for drawing attention to the piece, which is excerpted below from   http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/11/28/the_case_for_ratification_of_the_law_of_the_sea_treaty_116272-full.html

"The Case for Ratification of the Law of the Sea Treaty" [EXCERPTS]

By Andrew Langer  - November 28, 2012

"The Stakes Have Rarely Been Higher

"The Institute for Liberty (IFL) has come to the conclusion that ratifying the Law of the Sea Treaty is the most important property rights and wealth building step that America can take to maintain our leading superpower status and to exponentially grow our economy.

There has been a tremendous amount of disinformation about this treaty. In fact, just earlier this year, IFL thought we knew the truth about what was termed “LOST” and we signed a letter opposing ratification. We, like so many other conservatives, were given bad information.

In light of the facts, IFL dropped our opposition to the treaty and we are now leading the conservative charge for its ratification. I am meeting everyday with conservative grassroots leaders to ask them to join me in this imperative course correction and we are making a great deal of progress."

Another short excerpt gives a taste of how the piece debunks false arguments against the Law of the Sea Convention:

[Langer continues:]

"Myth: Ronald Reagan wouldn’t ratify this treaty.

Fact: Ronald Reagan’s Chief of Staff James Baker III supports the treaty’s ratification and he says that this version of the Law of the Sea Treaty is the version that Reagan fought for himself. Baker says that Reagan fought for the mineral rights contained in the treaty and that the mineral rights section is where Reagan’s objects rested – Reagan did not see “backdoor tax” or “sovereignty” boogiemen in LOTS or in the ISA. Hear from Baker yourself. In this video you can watch him talk directly about Ronald Reagan and Law of the Sea Treaty during his remarks of August 26, 2012 (between the time marker 35:29 – 36:32)

Myth: This treaty is an environmentalist ploy.

Fact: False. This treaty is backed by the US military; by the mining, oil and gas industries; by manufacturers; by the defense industry; and, by every living Republican Secretary of State and by every Republican president – essentially, this treaty is backed by everyone the environmentalist community loathes, sues and pickets. The supporters of this treaty are amongst the most vocal critics of so-called “global warming” and have fought the Kyoto Protocol tooth and nail. This treaty is about trillions of dollars of US wealth creation, hundreds of thousands of American jobs, and about the national security benefits that arise from the 100% veto power the U.S. gains over all other nations via ratification.

Myth: U.S. companies can explore mineral claims without ratifying the treaty and joining the ISA.

Fact: False. This is the issue of property rights, which is of tantamount importance in forging political stability and global prosperity. Right now, U.S. business’ mineral claims are imperiled because of our inability to participate in the International Seabed Authority. If other nations can lay claim to these regions, and have the lawful backing of the treaty and the ISA, then our businesses can legally be forced off these claims. U.S. businesses cannot subject themselves to a potential taking scenario where once that have developed a resource, it is taken by China or Russia."

For the full article, go to Real Clear Politics.

Summer 2012 US Extended Continental Shelf Arctic Mapping

The US Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) mapping project continues in the Arctic Ocean this summer. The USCGC Healy 1202 got underway from Barrow on August 26 with the ECS science crew on board.

Larry Mayer, Director of the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center, University of New Hampshire/NOAA, is leading the cruise with Capt. Andy Armstrong, who is blogging about the cruise here.

Browsing the hourly images from the ship's Aloftcon camera is one way to track the remarkable absence of sea ice at various latitudes. Armstrong's blog entry for September 6  says it is shocking to see "entirely open water" at 81 degrees north, but not surprising given the regular ice reports on which they are relying.

The National Snow and Ice Data Center Arctic Sea Ice News provides frequent updates on the record Arctic sea ice minimum reached this summer.  The record minimum set in 2007 was, coincidentally, reached the day Healy 1202 got underway; it has continued to drop throughout September.    As NSIDC reports today, the sea ice

"is now below 4.00 million square kilometers (1.54 million square miles). Compared to September conditions in the 1980s and 1990s, this represents a 45% reduction in the area of the Arctic covered by sea ice. At least one more week likely remains in the melt season."

Captain Armstrong's blog entries for August 31 and September 5 share remarkable images from  previously undiscovered seafloor features west of the Nautilus Basin.

The cruise is expected to wrap up the last week in September.

American Arctic highlighted as key reason for U.S. to join the Law of the Sea Convention

A diverse, bipartisan coalition of politicians, military leaders, corporate interests and environmental groups  has launched a new initiative, The American Sovereignty Campaign, to urge US accession to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in the current Congress. The site provides multiple fact sheets, an interactive map and background on why each of the coalition groups supports the Convention. For example, representatives of Lockheed Martin Corporation, Level 3 Communications, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Petroleum Institute – "made the business case for Law of the Sea Treaty ratification" at a recent Forum sponsored by the Atlantic Council and the Pew Charitable Trusts.


The United States is the only Arctic State that is not a party to the LOS Convention, having first submitted the treaty to the U.S. Senate for approval in 1994, but has not yet acceded to it. Denmark and Canada joined the treaty in 2004 and 2003 respectively. Until the US accedes to the treaty it cannot submit its data regarding the extent of the US extended continental shelf (ECS) to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, established under the treaty. Without a Commission recommendation regarding such data, the legal foundation for US ECS limits is much less certain than if the US were a party to the LOS Convention.

The ASC website also addresses arguments, many of them unfounded,  raised by treaty opponents. For example, the site sets straight the record showing that former President Reagan's initial objections to the convention have been resolved.

Two Year Anniversary of Deepwater Horizon: Oil Spill Commission Action (US) issues "Report Card"

After concluding their work as the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, its now former members launched the Oil Spill Commission Action project (OSCA).

In time for the two year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster (April 20, 2010), OSCA has issued a report card assessing how the US Congress, the Administration and Industry have done in implementing the Commission's Recommendations, which were published in the Commission's Final Report of January 2011. The report explains the summary grades assigned to each actor for its work to date (Congress "D",  Administration "B" and Industry a "B") as follows:

"Overall, we conclude that, although much more needs to be done, the Administration and industry are undertaking important enhancements to make offshore drilling safer and to improve the nation’s ability to respond to oil spills that may occur. Unfortunately, so far, Congress has provided neither leadership nor support for these efforts."

The report assesses five categories, The Arctic among them:

"Safety and Environmental Protection(B)
Industry and most federal agencies have made or are making significant improvements in the way offshore oil operations are developed, carried out, and overseen. These hold promise but continued improvements are required, and Congress has done nothing to make permanent the improvements that have been made.
Spill Response and Containment(B-)
Industry and most federal agencies are also making significant improvements in their ability to contain and respond to offshore oil spills. The nation is certainly in a much better situation than it was two years ago. However, the efficacy of these modifications under the harsh conditions of deep water drilling still needs to be demonstrated and, again, Congress has provided little support for these efforts.
Impacts and Restoration(C)
Implementing the Commission’s recommendations on impacts and restoration is, at best, a work in progress. Though we are hopeful that the current efforts to initiate a comprehensive restoration program in the Gulf will succeed, we are discouraged by the modest steps that have been taken.
Ensuring Adequate Resources(D)
Although the Administration and Congress have provided increases in funding for the Department of the Interior to operate its regulatory programs, Congress has taken no action to make the program self-funding. Nor has Congress taken action to adjust the existing unrealistic limits on liability and response funding.
Frontier Areas—The Arctic (C)
Although there has been some progress in implementing the Commission’s recommendations concerning frontier areas, we feel strongly that additional work must be done to understand the ecosystems of the Arctic and to establish the infrastructure necessary to protect this vulnerable and valuable region."

The OSCA report is available on the group's Website: Oil Spill Commission Action.
Download the report...

Among the many other US resources related to the Deepwater Horizon are reports and data available from NOAA,  from the Department of the Interior (and its Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and  Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's Deepwater Reading Room); and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Industry, NGOs and media are also marking the second anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon.

Notable among the coverage is American Petroleum Institute Upstream Director, Erik Milito, discussing seven lessons to be learned from the tragedy.  The API is a key player in the Center for Offshore Safety.  The Center was established in partial keeping with a Deepwater Commission's recommendation but, as a fully industry supported center, varies from the recommended independent status of such an organization.
Separately, Alex Chadwick is featured in a broadcast documentary Burn, about the search for oil.
Other media coverage includes:
http://www.emagazine.com/daily-news/bp-spill-two-years-after/;

http://www.takepart.com/article/2012/04/13/two-years-later-gulf-marine-life-still-suffering;

and

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/04/201241682318260912.html

The National Energy Board of Canada completed its post-Deepwater Arctic Ocean Drilling Review, issuing its report in December 2011.

NOAA National Geophysical Data Center: new viewer for seafloor and continental shelf data

A new viewer allows anyone with access to the internet to view high-resolution bathymetric and other data depicting information about the world's oceans, seafloor and continental shelves.  The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) makes the information available through its Marine Geology and Geophysics Division in Boulder, Colorado, part of NOAA’s National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC).

An independent report on the new viewer observes that "NGDC’s sea floor data have long been free and open to the public in original science formatting, but that often required the use of specialized software to convert the data into maps and other products. "For serious scientists, the new viewer allows an important preview capability that will help speed data access and analysis. But its real power is exposing a new audience to NOAA data," said Dan Price, bathymetric program manager at NGDC."

The maps can be viewed in Mercator and Arctic Projection and are available here.

Two New Map Tools from UNEP Grid/Arendal: Marine-related scientific datasets and Extended Continental Shelf Submissions (geophysical metadata)

The January 2012 Newsletter of UNEP GRID/Arendal's Marine Division features two excellent resources, OCEANIDS and OSDS Data Inventory Map (the featured Map of the Month).


The first, OCEANIDS, is “a new tool to find and examine public marine-related scientific datasets. A main aim in the development of OCEANIDS is to provide end users with an interdisciplinary and multi-thematic geospatial and metadata portal of public data and information – but with the non-GIS expert end user in mind.” For more on how this is accomplished with Geocommons solutions, see the newsletter.


The second resource, the One Stop Data Shop (OSDS) Data Inventory Map “shows all the cruise track lines and point databases that have been collected during the lifespan of the Continental Shelf Programme, and constitutes the world’s largest collection of geophysical metadata relevant for working on delineation of extended continental shelves (ECS) beyond 200 nautical miles.” The map includes “URLs leading to the actual data holder's web pages for that object. Furthermore, the map shows the status of all ECS Submissions received by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.  In January 2012 Tanzania was the 59th submission.

As the newsletter announces, the ECS inventory map “is also available for Google Earth as separate layers.”

U.S. State Department unveils website on the Law of the Sea Convention

The U.S. Department of State recently launched a new website designed to educate readers about the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and promote benefits of accession to the treaty. Partly in anticipation of the treaty's consideration in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (as of yet unscheduled), the State Department's Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs issued several fact sheets in July 2011 that are now available on the website.  The overview fact sheet characterizes the Convention as "a key piece of unfinished treaty business for the United States;" the others address business and national security reasons to support accession to the Convention.

The entries at the bottom of this Arctic Mapping blog provide general information about the history of non-accession to the Convention in the United States; those in the upper right hand margin track more recent developments and expressions of support for accession. 

Arctic Regional Hydrographic Commission Meeting, 27-29 September 2011

The Arctic Regional Hydrographic Commission (ARHC) was established a year ago in October 2010, and is currently holding its second meeting in Copenhagen (27-29 September 2011).   Documents submitted for this meeting, including national reports from all five coastal states and a status report (ArHC2-11A) on plans for an Arctic Spatial Data Infrastructure  (Arctic SDI) are available on the ARHC meeting website.  The ARCH held its first meeting in Ottawa (4-6 October 2010). At the first meeting, the report of the US Coastal Hydrographic Commission (USCHC Update)ARHC1-04B indicated that technical experts met in Ottawa on July 22, 2010 in anticipation of a maritime boundary agreement in the Beaufort Sea (see media reports and earlier posts from February 2010 and March 2010 on the progress toward resolution of this maritime boundary dispute).  Technical discussions continue in anticipation of resolving this well-managed maritime boundary disagreement between Canada and the United States.

R/V Marcus G. Langseth underway for Chukchi Edges Project

As is clear from following the links to the right of this blog post, the USCGC Healy has been in the Arctic Ocean for several weeks on its “Law of the Sea Extended Continental Shelf” mapping cruise.  This is the fifth year that Healy is working jointly with the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Louis S. St. Laurent, collecting data to inform the eventual submission of reports to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.

The Research Vessel (R/V) Marcus G. Langseth embarked September 8, 2011, from Dutch Harbor, Alaska, on a different kind of arctic mapping cruise.

As explained on the Langseth Chukchi Edges Project website, “The primary purpose of this cruise is to collect Multi-Channel Seismic Reflection (MCS) data across the transition from the Chukchi Shelf to the Chukchi Borderland.”  One purpose the data will serve is to provide imaging of the transition between these two continental blocks, thus helping to narrow down when and over how long a period the two blocks were in relative motion with each other.  That information is key to understanding the geological history of the area.

As the project's chief scientist, Dr. Bernard Coakley from University of Alaska-Fairbanks, explains:

“The geological history of the Amerasian Basin is poorly understood, in part due to the lack of identified plate boundaries. These boundaries must exist to explain the basin history. Identification of these structures will make it possible to reconstruct the development of the basin, which will substantially improve our understanding of the surrounding continents.”

R/V Langseth is operated by Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) at Columbia University.  The Langseth is not an ice-strengthened vessel and this is the first time it has been used in the Arctic open water season (for more on the expected ice environment for the cruise, see the cruise website.  LDEO has an office devoted to Marine Mammal Protection and Dr. Coakley has worked closely with NOAA to obtain the necessary permits for MCS activity. Community Observer Reynold (RJ) Aveoganna is part of the international team working with Coakley, which includes scientists from Korea, Germany, Turkey, the United States and the United Kingdom, representing seven different universities and research organizations.

The Langseth is scheduled to return to Dutch Harbor on October 10, 2011. Coakley will be blogging for the New York Times Scientist at Work feature throughout the cruise, beginning with today's post under Notes from the Field; subsequent posts will be available here.

Guyana files submission with the CLCS

On 6 September 2011 Guyana filed the 57th submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (all 57 submissions are identified on the CLCS website).

The Executive Summary of the submission, available here, indicates that Guyana submits "data and information concerning the outer limits of the continental shelf along the northern part of its continental margin for the consideration of the CLCS without prejudice to any potential boundary delimitations with any other States which may be conducted at a later date."*

Thus, any potential boundary delimitation with Guyana's neighbor to the north, Venezuela, will not be prejudiced by the submission or any eventual Commission recommendation (Venezuela is not a party to the Law of the Sea Convention).  Whether or not the neighboring state is a party to the Convention, such provisions are standard in submissions to the CLCS when the submitting state has unresolved boundaries or potential boundary issues with neighboring states. The Law of the Sea Convention (art. 76, para. 10, and Annex II, art. 9) makes clear that the Commission's role is not to address any such boundary issues, but rather only to consider the data regarding the extent of the continental shelf without prejudice to such issues.

From Guyana's Executive Summary, p. 16: "Figure 1. The outer limits of the continental shelf of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana (red line) beyond 200 nautical miles (black line) measured from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured according to paragraph 7 determined by straight lines not exceeding 60 nautical miles in length, connecting fixed points, defined by coordinates of latitude and longitude."

Consideration of Guyana's submission will be part of the Commission's provisional agenda for the 29th session of the CLCS, scheduled to meet in New York in March/April 2012.  The last submission to the Commission was by Madagascar in April 2011.

*emphasis not in original

UPDATE October 1, 2011: Guyana and Venezuela sign agreement pledging to "negotiate the delimitation of maritime boundaries between the two States."

The Arctic, Irene and ... Vermont Law School?

Many readers know that your blogger teaches at Vermont Law School (see blogger profile). Many in the eastern United States also know that Vermont was hard hit by flooding following Hurricane Irene and many have inquired as to how we fared.  Thanks for your concern, and for other readers' indulgence in this non-Arctic report.
Vermont Law School, in South Royalton, Vermont, reopened on August 31, but transportation around the state, and to and from campus, changes daily as roads are reopened, or repaired ... or erode further.  The school suffered only minor flooding but our neighbors in Royalton, South Royalton, Bethel, and numerous small communities have lost homes, livestock, possessions.  For more on the aftermath in Vermont go to vpr.net or onearth.org; and at VLS to irene.vermontlaw.edu or our Facebook or Twitter pages.
We continue our research at the Vermont Institute for Energy and Environment on the PAME Arctic Offshore Oil and Gas Guidelines in Greenland and Russia, and in Canada and the United States (your comments welcome as we update these papers, reply here), on the legal status of sea ice, and on our contribution to the Arctic Ocean Review, among other Arctic-related projects.

Thanks for your concern.

Speaking of Icebreakers ... what about Antarctica? NSF contracts with Russian icebreaker.

This blog has written of icebreakers on several occasions (e.g. January 2009 and June 2010), but has focused largely on U.S. and Canadian ice breaking needs in the Arctic.  In early August, the U.S. National Science Foundation announced that the Swedish  government would not be deploying its escort icebreaker Oden south to Antarctica in 2011, as has been the practice in recent years.  The Oden, one of seven icebreakers operated by the Swedish Maritime Administration, is thus not available either for joint research with other countries in the Southern Ocean, or for the annual breakout of the channel that allows the resupply of certain research stations in Antarctica (McMurdo Station, South Pole Station and field camps in the interior of the Antarctic continent).
 
In mid-August, U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (Washington) and Mark Begich (Alaska) pointed to the practice of contracting with foreign governments for Antarctic ice breaking services when speaking against plans to decommission the Polar Sea, one of the United States' three aging icebreakers.  As Senator Cantwell's press release states "Decommissioning Polar Sea would leave the U.S. with only one operational icebreaker, the Healy, which was designed primarily as a scientific research vessel and only has medium icebreaking capability. The second heavy duty icebreaker, Polar Star, is currently in Seattle being refitted after years in ‘caretaker’ status, when the vessel is out of active service but still receives routine upkeep and maintenance. The United States Navy has no icebreaking capability."

On August 25, 2011, the NSF issued a letter announcing that the "NSF has entered into a letter contract for the services of the Vladimir Ignatyuk, a diesel-powered Russian icebreaker owned by the Murmansk Shipping Company. This ship is the sister to Canada's Terry Fox."

The good news is that Antarctic science stations will continue to be resupplied through international cooperation.  The bad news, which should make its way to the highest level of policy making in the United States, is that our ice breaking capacity is woefully inadequate: inadequate for scientific research North and South, and inadequate for emergency response to oil spills and other potential problems arising from increased exploitation of petroleum resources in the Arctic and from increased marine traffic in the North generally.

International Maritime Organization MEPC agrees on work plan for Black Carbon impacts in Arctic

From the July 2011 Current Awareness Bulletin of the IMO:

At the 62nd session of the Marine Environment Protection Committtee, London 11-15 July 2011, the MEPC:

    "agreed a work plan on addressing the impact in the Arctic of black carbon emissions from ships and instructed the Sub-Committee on Bulk Liquids and Gases (BLG) to:  develop a definition for black carbon  emissions from international shipping; consider measurement methods for black carbon  and identify the most appropriate method for measuring black carbon emissions from international shipping; investigate appropriate control measures to reduce the impacts of black carbon emissions from international shipping in the Arctic; and submit a final report to MEPC 65 (in 2014).

     Black carbon is a strongly light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosol produced by incomplete combustion of fuel oil and is considered a constituent of primary particulate matter, as distinguished from secondary particulate matter pollutants formed in the atmosphere from sulphur dioxide emissions. In addition to harmful human health effects associated with exposure to particulate matter, Black carbon has effects on climate change. When deposited on snow and ice in the Arctic and lower latitudes, it darkens light surfaces and absorbs energy, causing snow and ice to melt."

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov: Law of the Sea Convention, not military involvement, is the basis for activity in the Arctic

In an exclusive interview with Voice of Russia on July 13, Sergei Lavrov, the Minster of Foreign Affairs for the Russian Federation, reiterated that the law of the sea convention is the basis for maintaining security in the Arctic.  He made clear that there is no problem in the Arctic requiring military involvement and emphasized the importance of the law of the sea convention as the foundation for international cooperation in the Arctic.

Lavrov took the opportunity presented by a question on Russia's plans for a new submission to the Commission on the Continental Shelf in 2012 to make his point:

"Interviewer:  You know, it`s been mentioned that Moscow will submit a claim next year to the UN to expand its Arctic shelf borders. Other nations including the US have also increased their activities in the region, and it is described by some analysts as a new re-division of the Arctic. How do you see the role of Russia in this process and does it need to increase its military presence there as the US and Canada do?   May the future of the Arctic be resolved peacefully?

Lavrov:  Well, first of there is no such thing as redesigning of the Arctic landscape and redesigning the legal regime of the Arctic. The five coastal states, the Arctic Five so to say, back in 2008 agreed during their meeting that there is no single problem in the region that cannot be resolved on the basis of existing law, this law being the international Convention of 1982.

Then this position was endorsed by the entire Arctic Council which is composed by eight Arctic states and you now the fact that this is really the case was demonstrated by the signature and entry into force of the Russian-Norwegian agreement on de-limitation in the Barents Sea area.

There is no single issue in the area that would require any military presence of the non-regional actors, be it countries or organizations. The Arctic Five, Russia, the US, Canada, Norway and Denmark are perfectly capable of maintaining the necessary level of security, the freedom of shipping and safety of the shipping and we are open to other countries who want to cooperate but on the basis of the rules of the game established by the Arctic countries.

We met last May in Greenland, in the city of Nuuk, as the Arctic Council ministerial meeting and we adopted the first pan-Arctic legally binding agreement on search and rescue and instructed our experts to draft a Treaty on how you fight oil spills. We also endorsed the rules for observers who want to participate in the work of the Arctic Council which provide for them to be parties to projects like exploration of oil and gas, transportation of oil, gas and other commodities through the Northern Sea route, participation in scientific research and many other activities.

But I would like to emphasize once again that there’s no problem requiring any military involvement in the Arctic. Everything must be and should be on the basis of the international convention of the law of the sea and it’s a common position of the members of the Arctic Council, including Russia and the US." (Emphasis added.)

The Russian research vessel the Akademik Fedorov embarked earlier this month for another summer of mapping related to the the Russian continental shelf submission.

For a digital recording of Voice of Russia's entire interview with Foreign Minister Lavrov, and its full text, see the Voice of Russia report for July 13, 2011.