Inuit Back Controversial Arctic Shipping Rules
Canada's main Inuit organization is defending the country's strengthened Arctic shipping regulations despite recent criticism from the world's largest association of maritime cargo carriers that the new rules are "drastic" and may violate international law.
But Mary Simon, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said the mandatory ship-tracking system that came into effect on July 1 will only succeed if federal authorities co-operate closely with the same northern communities that she says were largely ignored in the drafting of the legislation.
"The new regulations are meant to control and ensure safe shipping through the Northwest Passage. They underscore and support Canadian sovereignty," Simon said in a statement backing the new Northern Canada Vessel Traffic Services Zone. "International shipping companies should comply with these new regulations."
But Simon also warned the federal government that coast guard and transport officials will have to consult regularly with Inuit communities in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories to ensure the new regime is effective.
Simon said she "wrote to the prime minster several months ago expressing our desire to work together on an Arctic shipping regime — as Inuit live along the coasts where the ships are passing — and although there is much good in these new regulations, Inuit leaders have yet to receive an invitation to be part of this regime."
The bolstered ship-monitoring system — which replaces the much-criticized NORDREG voluntary registration system for vessels travelling through the Northwest Passage and other Canadian Arctic waters — was detailed by Fisheries Minister Gail Shea a few days before the July 1 implementation date.
"Our government and Prime Minister Harper have always asserted that a strong and sovereign Canada depended on a healthy, prosperous and secure North," Shea said at the time.
"The world has their eyes set on the unprecedented economic growth opportunities, in particular in the mining and oil and gas sectors," she added. "We can all expect this to mean more shipping in the Arctic."
Along with making registration mandatory for any foreign or domestic vessel greater than 300 tonnes travelling through Canada's Arctic waters, the new rules are part of a broader assertion of Canadian authority over northern shipping that has also extended pollution-control limits and other regulations from 100 to 200 nautical miles offshore.
But the tough new rules promptly drew fire from BIMCO, the Denmark-based Baltic and International Maritime Council, as a "drastic" response to increased Arctic ship traffic and a potential threat to the long-standing "right to innocent passage" on the world's oceans.
BIMCO includes companies accounting for 65 per cent of the cargo shipped annually around the world.
The organization complained that Canadian officials had ignored its request earlier this year to have the proposed new Arctic regulatory regime vetted first by a committee of the International Maritime Organization, which oversees global shipping traffic.
"There will be compliance, and we are very much in favour of everybody contributing to a very safe environment in these Arctic waters," Michael Lund, BIMCO's chief international affairs officer, told Postmedia News earlier this month.
But he added that the new Canadian regime appears to conflict with some key principles that have guided international shipping in the past and that "We would have liked to see this go to the IMO" before Transport Canada implemented the new rules this month.
"Mandatory ship reporting systems represent an administrative burden to the ship's crew that can have safety implications," BIMCO argued in a submission on the new rules sent to Canadian officials in February.
Noting that an expansion of the geographical area covered by the new regulations "appears drastic," BIMCO also raised concerns that the blocking of any vessel deemed to be violating the rules "could be seen as effectively interfering with the right to innocent passage for ships as ensured by UNCLOS," the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
But Simon said the new rules, if properly managed, will create a much safer and sensible shipping environment in the North.
"Ships over 300 tonnes will have to be registered, and additional measures will be put in place to prevent pollution in Arctic waters and beef up response times to potential oil spills," she stated. "The regulation of cruise ships through Arctic waters is also important, as some of our communities are surprised when a ship with 500 tourists suddenly shows up."
Copyright: arcticle: Randy Boswell, The Gazette
Original article from: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Inuit+back+controversial+Arctic+shipping+rules/3319141/story.html
Forward this news message:Canada's main Inuit organization is defending the country's strengthened Arctic shipping regulations despite recent criticism from the world's largest association of maritime cargo carriers that the new rules are "drastic" and may violate international law.
But Mary Simon, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said the mandatory ship-tracking system that came into effect on July 1 will only succeed if federal authorities co-operate closely with the same northern communities that she says were largely ignored in the drafting of the legislation.
"The new regulations are meant to control and ensure safe shipping through the Northwest Passage. They underscore and support Canadian sovereignty," Simon said in a statement backing the new Northern Canada Vessel Traffic Services Zone. "International shipping companies should comply with these new regulations."
But Simon also warned the federal government that coast guard and transport officials will have to consult regularly with Inuit communities in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories to ensure the new regime is effective.
Simon said she "wrote to the prime minster several months ago expressing our desire to work together on an Arctic shipping regime — as Inuit live along the coasts where the ships are passing — and although there is much good in these new regulations, Inuit leaders have yet to receive an invitation to be part of this regime."
The bolstered ship-monitoring system — which replaces the much-criticized NORDREG voluntary registration system for vessels travelling through the Northwest Passage and other Canadian Arctic waters — was detailed by Fisheries Minister Gail Shea a few days before the July 1 implementation date.
"Our government and Prime Minister Harper have always asserted that a strong and sovereign Canada depended on a healthy, prosperous and secure North," Shea said at the time.
"The world has their eyes set on the unprecedented economic growth opportunities, in particular in the mining and oil and gas sectors," she added. "We can all expect this to mean more shipping in the Arctic."
Along with making registration mandatory for any foreign or domestic vessel greater than 300 tonnes travelling through Canada's Arctic waters, the new rules are part of a broader assertion of Canadian authority over northern shipping that has also extended pollution-control limits and other regulations from 100 to 200 nautical miles offshore.
But the tough new rules promptly drew fire from BIMCO, the Denmark-based Baltic and International Maritime Council, as a "drastic" response to increased Arctic ship traffic and a potential threat to the long-standing "right to innocent passage" on the world's oceans.
BIMCO includes companies accounting for 65 per cent of the cargo shipped annually around the world.
The organization complained that Canadian officials had ignored its request earlier this year to have the proposed new Arctic regulatory regime vetted first by a committee of the International Maritime Organization, which oversees global shipping traffic.
"There will be compliance, and we are very much in favour of everybody contributing to a very safe environment in these Arctic waters," Michael Lund, BIMCO's chief international affairs officer, told Postmedia News earlier this month.
But he added that the new Canadian regime appears to conflict with some key principles that have guided international shipping in the past and that "We would have liked to see this go to the IMO" before Transport Canada implemented the new rules this month.
"Mandatory ship reporting systems represent an administrative burden to the ship's crew that can have safety implications," BIMCO argued in a submission on the new rules sent to Canadian officials in February.
Noting that an expansion of the geographical area covered by the new regulations "appears drastic," BIMCO also raised concerns that the blocking of any vessel deemed to be violating the rules "could be seen as effectively interfering with the right to innocent passage for ships as ensured by UNCLOS," the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
But Simon said the new rules, if properly managed, will create a much safer and sensible shipping environment in the North.
"Ships over 300 tonnes will have to be registered, and additional measures will be put in place to prevent pollution in Arctic waters and beef up response times to potential oil spills," she stated. "The regulation of cruise ships through Arctic waters is also important, as some of our communities are surprised when a ship with 500 tourists suddenly shows up."
Copyright: arcticle: Randy Boswell, The Gazette
Original article from: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Inuit+back+controversial+Arctic+shipping+rules/3319141/story.html