Vanguard Magazine

38 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2024 www.vanguardcanada.com T H E LA S T W O R D entered into force on Jan. 1, 2017. It sets several standards, such as ship design and construction, and qualifications of the crew and safety equipment on board. Although the Polar Code isn't perfect and doesn't ad- dress all the challenges of operating in the polar regions, it was deemed to be a major step in improving operations in those areas. It specifically called for a high standard of design for the survival equipment. Serious maritime accidents happen al- most daily: loss of power, allisions, loss of steer-ing, groundings, and fires. If a ship loses the ability to steer it can quickly get into significant trouble. The recent de- struction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore by the ship MV Dali provides a clear example of how quickly a situation can lead to disaster when a ship loses its controllability. Another good example of what could happen took place off the coast of Norway when the cruise ship Viking Sky lost power in a storm. On March 18, 2019, the cruise ship Vi- king Sky issued a mayday distress call after engine problems in heavy seas off Norway's western coast. At the time, it was carrying a complement of crew and passengers of 1,370 people. In very rough seas, the vessel started to drift towards the coast. The sea conditions were such that it was deemed unsafe to deploy the emergency lifeboats. A frantic rescue effort was made to evacuate the passengers and crew by helicopters. In challenging weather conditions and a ship swaying severely in all dimensions, several helicopters managed to airlift some 400 pas- sengers to safety by the time the crew man- aged to restart one engine, and sail away from the coast. Dozens of people were in- jured, and several had to be hospitalized. Had the ship ran aground, the waves would have repeatedly smashed it against the shore. Passengers and crew may have had to aban- don the ship by jumping into frigid waters without proper protection. In the case of the Akademik Ioffe ground- ing mentioned above, the research vessel Akademik Sergey Vavilov provided assis- tance by taking on board the passengers of the Akademik Ioffe. However, it departed the grounding site for Kugaaruk, Nunavut, to deliver those passengers after having been granted an exemption from Transport Canada to sail with 100 persons more than the vessel's lifesaving equipment capacity. This created another dangerous situation. Fortunately, all were delivered safely. To contrast these ships, there is the Com- mandant Charcot of the Ponant Fleet. It is an actual icebreaker, as opposed to an ice-strengthened expedition vessel. It op- erates with an experienced crew. It has par- ticipated in several Arctic search and rescue exercises with national Coast Guards and is equipped with the latest survival equip- ment. Fur-thermore, it has been involved in testing several types of equipment for the passengers and crew to survive several days after abandoning ship. In the Canadian Arctic, search and res- cue (SAR) assets may be hours or even days away depending on where an incident happened. In the case of the Clipper Ad- venturer near Kugluktuk, it took 42 hours for the Canadian Coast Guard vessel to ar- rive. In the Canadian Arctic, ships provid- ing assistance face several challenges. They will invariably have to proceed slowly be- cause of ice-infested water, poor weather, and the fact that much of the Arctic Archi- pelago is only partly charted. Search and rescue aircraft of the Canadian Forces are located in the south on bases such as Ca- nadian Forces Base Winnipeg. The stand- by SAR aircraft should normally be able to take off within two hours. The faster CC- 130 Hercules aircraft will reach the Arctic faster, but they are not equipped with a forward-looking infrared radar (FLIR). They use onboard observers, a much less efficient system. The new SAR aircraft, the slower CC-295 Kingfisher, with a cruising speed of 260 nautical mile, will reach the Northwest Passage – some 1,100 nautical miles away – in about eight to 10 hours. Because of its limited range of 730 nautical miles, it will have to refuel en route add- ing to the time to reach the search area. However, they are equipped with FLIR which will make the search more efficient and faster against a very cold background. By then, however, the survivors may have been in cold Arctic waters for 10 or more hours. Unless the survivors have the ap- propriate level of protection, the search and rescue will likely become a search and recovery operation. The Polar Code requires vessels that will operate in polar waters to obtain a polar certificate attesting that the ship, its crew, their qualification and life-saving appli- ance meet the requirements of the Polar Code. The issuance of those certificates is done by the vessel's class societies acting as a "recognised organisation" to the ship's flag administration. There are several soci- eties that issue the polar certificates such as the American Bureau of Shipping, Bureau Veritas, and Lloyd's Register. Those societ- ies have a duty to perform due diligence prior to issuing those polar certificates. To increase search and rescue operations in the Arctic, on May 12, 2011, in Nuuk, Greenland, the Arctic Council put in place the Agreement on Cooperation on Aero- nautical and Maritime Search and Rescue in the Arctic. It is a legally binding agree- ment between Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States. It was recognised that the distances, the weather, and the paucity of SAR assets in the Arctic were such that countries had to work together. This agree- ment along with the Polar Code will hope- fully reduce the loss of life in the Arctic. At a recent meeting of the Canadian Mar- itime Advisory Council, Prairie and North- ern Region, Transport Canda has indicated that it will increase the inspection of ves- sels operating in the Canadian Arctic. This is welcome news as it will encourage ship owners to make sure that their ships have the proper design, that the safety – such as forward-looking sonar – is on board and operational, that the crews are qualified, and that having the proper survival equip- ment will allow survivors to stay alive for that minimum period of five days. The Polar Code has been in effect for more than seven years. It aims to reduce the risk of an accident and loss of life in the polar regions which are still isolated and very challenging environments. It is time to enforce it in the Canadian Arctic. Reprinted with permission, The Hill Times, May 2024 Colonel (Retired) Pierre Leblanc is an expe- rienced Arctic practitioner. White Glacier is one of his clients.

• Cover