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Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress
The U.S. Committee on the Marine Transportation System, a Cabinet-level committee of federal
agencies with responsibilities for marine transportation, identified a list of infrastructure
improvements for Arctic navigation in a 2013 report.92 The report prioritizes improvements to
information infrastructure (weather forecasting, nautical charting, ship tracking) and emergency
response capabilities for ships in distress.
Regulation of Arctic Shipping
Due to the international nature of the shipping industry, maritime trading nations have adopted
international treaties that establish standards for ocean carriers in terms of safety, pollution
prevention, and security. These standards are agreed upon by shipping nations through the
International Maritime Organization (IMO), a United Nations agency that first met in 1959.93
Key conventions that the 168 IMO member nations have adopted include the Safety of Life at Sea
Convention (SOLAS), which was originally adopted in response to the Titanic disaster in 1912
but has since been revised several times; the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL),
which was adopted in 1973 and modified in 1978; and the Standards for Training, Certification,
and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (SCTW), which was adopted in 1978 and amended in 1995. It is
up to ratifying nations to enforce these standards. The United States is a party to these
conventions, and the U.S. Coast Guard enforces them when it boards and inspects ships and
crews arriving at U.S. ports and the very few ships engaged in international trade that sail under
the U.S. flag.
Like the United States, most of the other major maritime trading nations lack the ability to
enforce these regulations as a "flag state" because much of the world's merchant fleet is
registered under so-called "flags of convenience." While most ship owners and operators are
headquartered in major economies, they often register their ships in Panama, Liberia, the
Bahamas, the Marshall Islands, Malta, and Cyprus, among other "open registries," because these
nations offer more attractive tax and employment regulatory regimes. Because of this
development, most maritime trading nations enforce shipping regulations under a "port state
control" regime-that is, they require compliance with these regulations as a condition of calling
at their ports. The fragmented nature of ship ownership and operation can be a further hurdle to
regulatory enforcement. It is common for cargo ships to be owned by one company, operated by a
second company (which markets the ship's space), and managed by a third (which may supply
the crew and other services a ship requires to sail), each of which could be headquartered in
different countries.
New Arctic Polar Code
While SOLAS and other IMO conventions include provisions regarding the operation of ships in
ice-infested waters, they were not specific to the polar regions. To supplement these requirements,
a new IMO polar code went into effect on January 1, 2017.94 The code applies to passenger and
cargo ships of 500 gross tons or more engaged in international voyages. It does not apply to
fishing vessels, military vessels, pleasure yachts, or smaller cargo ships. The polar requirements
Capabilities, July 12, 2016.
92 U.S. Committee on the Marine Transportation System, U.S. Arctic Marine Transportation System: Overview and
Priorities for Action, 2013; http://www.cmts.gov/downloads/CMTSArctic_MTSReport_Narrative.pdf.
93 See http://www.imo.org/ for more information.
94 http://www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/HotTopics/polar/Pages/default.aspx.Congressional Research Service 27
Congressional Research Service
27
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O'Rourke, Ronald. Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress, report, August 1, 2018; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1248258/m1/32/?rotate=0: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.