Shipping Safety in the Arctic

Abstract

Ensuring the safety of shipping in the Arctic and along the Northern Sea Route has some specifics associated with adverse climatic conditions. The presence of ice makes navigation difficult, and the interannual and interseasonal variability of its condition makes the timing of the start and duration of navigation in clear water uncertain. Collisions of ships and other accidents in northern waters can lead to more negative environmental consequences than in the southern seas, since there is a particularly vulnerable ecosystem, the restoration of which is very slow. The fishing fleet has traditionally posed security concerns for major shipping in the Arctic. In recent years, an increase in the intensity of shipping has been associated with exploration and production of hydrocarbon raw materials on the sea shelf. To support the technological processes of drilling platforms, a specialized supply fleet is used here, which creates additional risks of a technical, technological and technogenic nature, and also increases the risks of emergency situations associated with the human factor. This work is devoted to the development of measures to improve the information and telecommunications support of navigation safety systems in the Arctic. The issues of improving the electromagnetic accessibility of ship communication systems during navigation in the waters of the Northern Sea Route, the reliability of the GMDSS system, the information and technological support for navigation safety have been considered. To solve these problems, it has been proposed to accompany the construction of marine rescue coordination centers and sub-centers with the deployment of NAVTEX automated systems and equipping the RF radio frequency range with coastal radio communication equipment. To eliminate the predicted areas with reduced electromagnetic accessibility, it is recommended to replenish ship’s antenna systems with antiaircraft antennas. The issues of incorporating the IRIDIUM satellite system into the GMDSS radio equipment to expand the coverage area of global satellite communications in the navigation safety system have been studied. It has been proposed to supplement the existing vessel traffic services (VTS) systems with an intellectual component – a mobile VTS, which will expand the functional and technological capabilities of traditional VTSs and remove territorial restrictions on use.