The challenge of Arctic marine transportation

Introduction

The Beaufort Sea is expected to be one of the world's largest reservoirs of petroleum and gas, and large deposits of hard minerals may be found on surrounding islands. However, from the perspective of Arctic resource exploration, production, and transportation, the region poses a number of unique technical problems. In part because of the array of obstacles, and in part because of the novelty and scale of the task, many of the world's most competent technologists have been drawn to the challenge of designing and testing of Arctic drilling structures, artificial islands, terminal equipment, and transport systems. For example, artificial islands (constructed in up to 18 m of water) have become the most popular drilling platforms for use in the shallow waters of the Mackenzie River Delta. As exploration proceeds into deeper waters other types of rigs and platforms are planned, including the “Conical Rig” currently under construction for Gulf Canada and designed to operate in 55 m water depths (see Figure 4.1), and a type of movable or relocatable drilling platform, shown in Figure 4.2.

This paper reviews existing Arctic marine transportation technologies and identifies the most critical operational and interface problems which must be resolved before routine Arctic shipping is possible. For example, traffic routing, close-in manoeuvring, cargo transfer and crew replacement place special demands on Arctic operators as compared to transport operations conducted in more moderate climates.