US leadership can make Arctic seaways safe, secure and reliable

Since polar commercial aviation began more than 50 years ago, Alaska has enjoyed a commanding position serving global air cargo. Almost 50,000 Alaskans work in and around aviation jobs that exist not just from our location, but also due to our sterling reputation for safety and reliability. Every day, hundreds of planes flying between Asia, Europe and North America stop to gas up in Anchorage, Fairbanks, even Nome. Others flying overhead are served by Alaskans, too, relying on our air traffic control, weather advisories and alternative airports like Cold Bay, always ready for emergencies.

Now, as the Arctic Ocean becomes more accessible, shippers in Europe, Asia and North America foresee cost and distance savings from Arctic Ocean routes. Will Alaska earn a similar role in supporting reliable maritime shipping — as it has for air cargo — in the decades ahead? The Suez Canal, which provides this service today over a longer route, assists more than 17,000 vessels per year. Just 5% of this traffic, diverted to the Arctic, could provide almost $500 million in annual revenues to pay for icebreakers and ship services.

Today, the only nation offering end-to-end shipping services through the Arctic Ocean is Russia, which may own more icebreakers than the rest of the world combined. Just this month, the Moscow Times, a pro-Kremlin newspaper, suggested Vladimir Putin’s plan — with mandates to use Russian icebreakers on the Northern Sea Route — is to control this new ocean.

For economics and security’s sake, we may want to bring the resources of other nations together, including the U.S., to provide a geopolitically safer and technically reliable alternative, with a concept some have dubbed “Uber for icebreakers.” Arctic shipping could pay for more U.S. icebreakers, and support port development, hydrographic charting, and other needs for this new ocean.

To launch us on this endeavor, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Sen. Dan Sullivan and Congressman Don Young have introduced the SEAL Act, or Shipping and Environmental Arctic Leadership Act (S. 1177/H.R. 3020). This week, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Coast Guard Vice Commandant Charles Ray, are traveling across Alaska with Sen. Sullivan. The SEAL Act is currently before Wicker’s committee and, one hopes, could be included with the next Coast Guard Authorization Bill.

Developed by the Iceland-based Arctic Circle, the Wilson Center’s Polar Institute, experts from around the world and Alaskans from across the state, the SEAL Act would enhance marine safety, protect people, wildlife and the environment, and help finance the construction of a reliable Arctic marine transportation system.

Specifically, the proposed law would create the Arctic Seaway Development Corporation. Modeled after the Saint Lawrence Seaway, the Corporation would contract for the regulations, facilities and infrastructure necessary to provide safety, environmental protection, incident response and other important services to vessels operating in U.S. Arctic waters.

Revenue would come from voluntary fees for icebreaker escorts and other ship services. While some have questioned whether fees on vessels transiting the Arctic Ocean would be considered an infringement on freedom of navigation, the fees in a U.S.-organized Arctic Seaway would be voluntary, charged for services provided and tailored to fit insurance requirements. The insurance industry worked with the Arctic Council to press for “best practices” in Arctic shipping; an organized seaway would reduce risks and increase reliability.

This new Corporation could help finance new ports on Alaska’s Arctic coast, salvage vessels, hydrographic surveys, sea ice monitoring and forecasting. It would also reduce the burden on American taxpayers, who might rightfully ask why they should foot the bill for infrastructure that will help China ship goods more efficiently to the Netherlands.

The Corporation would also have the power to enter into contracts with other Arctic nations to ensure supply matches demand for icebreaker services. During parts of the year, icebreakers from many different countries are available. The proposed law enlists the State Department to promote international cooperation in developing a reliable seaway, under U.S. leadership. That’s where the “Uber for icebreakers” concept came about, where icebreakers could enter or leave the service when they don’t have other missions in the Baltic or Antarctic region.

Furthermore, the establishment of a safe, secure, and reliable marine transportation system in the U.S. Arctic would counterbalance Russia’s efforts to gain a monopoly over ship services in the region. This is important for two reasons. First, without Western participation, Arctic shipping is likely to happen poorly, with negative consequences for people, wildlife and the environment. At a minimum, the U.S. must have the ports of refuge, policies, vessels and infrastructure needed to prepare for an oil spill, wreck or similar catastrophe near or in the U.S. Arctic.

And second, “doing nothing” will only increase Russia’s leverage on the world stage, especially over global energy suppliers that are increasingly using this ocean. The SEAL Act establishes a framework for developing a cooperative shipping union between Arctic states, thus ensuring no single nation controls Arctic shipping routes which are open, as all oceans are, to ships from around the globe.

Ultimately, the laws and regulations that govern Arctic shipping must develop with respect to what Hugo Grotius called “the first principle” of the Law of Nations: “that every nation is free to travel to any other nation, and to trade with it.” The SEAL Act ensures just that, while also protecting the people, wildlife and environment of the High North.

That is something every Alaskan can support.

Mead Treadwell is chair of Arctic Circle’s Mission Council on Shipping and Ports and co-chair of the Wilson Center’s Polar Institute. He served as lieutenant governor of Alaska from 2010-2014 and chairman of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission from 2006-2010.

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