Abstract
Easier accessibility and demand for so-called last chance tourism has contributed to rapid growth in Arctic cruise ship tourism. Arctic cruising brings many benefits to remote coastal communities but also presents an array of risks. In the light of this context, this article explores the concept of systemic risk of cruise ship incidents in general, findings which are then placed in an Arctic context and consideration given of the role the insurance sector may play in addressing cruise ship incidents. The study is based on metadata, both from academic and nonacademic sources. Findings are drawn from 11 global case studies of cruise ship incidents, 5 of which are polar examples. In the worst-case scenario, an array of serious economic, business, environmental, sociocultural, and security impacts may unfold in the Arctic, presenting risks that may be considerably worse than in other parts of the world. Arctic-specific challenges include extreme weather conditions and the presence of sea-ice, navigation and communication conditions, and lack of infrastructure (port facilities, Search and Rescue capabilities). Significant knowledge gaps across the Arctic have been identified, for example, in terms of seabed mapping, how to deal with industry-related activities, and the risks and nature of environmental change. When cruise ship risks in the Arctic are considered, both passenger and shipowner risk need to be accounted for, including Search and Rescue cover. Although data are limited, there is evidence that the sociocultural risks of an Arctic cruise ship incident are insufficiently addressed, either via insurance mechanisms or cross-border, navigational safety guidelines such as the Polar Code. The academic contribution of the study is the systemic scale of the analysis, and the practical and political implications are to lay the foundation for solution discussion that is of relevance in an Arctic and insurance context.
Highlights
Across the world, cruise tourism has been the largest growing part of the tourism industry, experiencing a doubling in scale every 10 years since 1990 (Research Centre for Coastal Tourism, 2,012; MacNeill and Wozniak, 2018)
The aim of this study is to explore the systemic risk of significant cruise ship accidents in general, placing these findings in an Arctic and insurance context
This article has highlighted how risks in relation to cruise ship tourism tend to be considered in isolation, often with emphasis placed on managing, through insurance mechanisms, their enterprise aspects, as opposed to systemic consequences
Summary
Cruise tourism has been the largest growing part of the tourism industry, experiencing a doubling in scale every 10 years since 1990 (Research Centre for Coastal Tourism, 2,012; MacNeill and Wozniak, 2018). Cruise ship vessels operating in polar waters are usually smaller with fewer passengers on board (Research Centre for Coastal Tourism, 2012). The cruise ships are often quite luxurious, described as floating resorts or cities (Research Centre for Coastal Tourism, 2012). This form of tourism has been defined as “a luxurious form of travelling, involving an all-inclusive holiday on a cruise ship of at least 48 h, according to specific itinerary, in which the cruise ship calls at several ports or. New destinations are on the agenda as traditional cruise ship routes have become crowded (Research Centre for Coastal Tourism, 2012). Especially the cruise ship industry, constitutes one of the fastest growing segments of polar tourism (Larson & Fondahl, 2015; Bystrowska and Dawson, 2017; Dawson et al, 2018; Palma et al, 2019)
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