Abstract
The International Maritime Organization (IMO), in its capacity as a specialized agency of the United Nations, is the global regulator to ensure safety, security, environmental standards, efficiency and sustainability of international shipping. The current regulatory framework of IMO, which is developed and maintained on a continuous basis, includes over 50 international instruments and numerous codes, guidelines and circulars that cover every aspect of international shipping ranging from design, construction, equipment, manning and operation to ship recycling. The safety net of the universally adopted IMO regulations currently covers approximately 1.5 million seafarers and more than 60,000 ships. With declining ice cover leading to an increasing spiral of traffic despite the many hazards, safety of shipping in polar waters and, in particular, the Arctic and its fragile environment is a current focus area of IMO and purported to be addressed by the Organization through a set of goal-based regulatory standards. This chapter provides an overview of the IMO framework and process of shipping regulation and maps the transition from prescriptive to goal-based approach. Risk-based approaches to safety are discussed in the context of the Canadian Arctic. The chapter further reviews the IMO instruments relevant to the Arctic, including the Polar Code, and discusses the approaches to implementation at the flag state, coastal state and regional level, lending new insights and future pathways on tiered implementation of the IMO goal-based framework.
Highlights
The Arctic is uniquely distinctive in nature owing to its extreme milieu of low temperatures, high geographic latitude, the special magnetic phenomena and extraordinary light conditions
Rules and regulations for international shipping adopted at International Maritime Organization (IMO) are organic in nature and require periodic refining based on research and experience and the level of risk deemed acceptable to the member states
The management of risks for ships plying the Arctic begins with the owner defining the operational limitations for the ship by selecting the ice class, design temperature or rather the polar service temperature (PST), working latitude of the navigation and communication equipment, and the expected time to rescue based on the operating area (Hindley 2017)
Summary
The Arctic is uniquely distinctive in nature owing to its extreme milieu of low temperatures, high geographic latitude, the special magnetic phenomena and extraordinary light conditions. The many hazards of polar shipping, especially in the remote Arctic regions (Fig. 12.1), are perhaps without any parallel. The Arctic is among the world’s most poorly observed regions. Ice cover is variable and dynamic, and climate change is expected to have even further impacts. Bathymetric information is scant or outdated, and navigational chart information is not available for all polar waters. Only 10% of the Canadian Arctic is charted, and less than 25% of the charts are deemed to be of an adequate standard. Infrastructure to support ships in transit in terms of aids to navigation or ports and reception and
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