Arctic

Rutter Inc., a leading provider of advanced radar solutions, is proud to announce a collaboration with Wärtsilä, a global leader in smart technologies, and Seaspan Shipyards, a leading shipbuilder, to deliver the cutting-edge sigma S6 Oil Spill Detection and Ice Navigator™ systems for a new icebreaker being built in British Columbia, Canada, as part of the Canadian Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Program.

The collaboration between Rutter Inc., Wärtsilä, and Seaspan underscores a shared commitment to innovation, safety, and environmental protection in polar regions. By combining Rutter Inc.’s expertise in radar-based technologies, Wärtsilä’s marine technology, and Seaspan’s vessel construction expertise, the companies aim to provide comprehensive solutions tailored to the unique challenges of the high Arctic environment.

Rutter’s sigma S6 Oil Spill Detection System leverages cutting-edge sensor technology and real-time data analysis, empowering operators to swiftly identify and address potential oil spill incidents, safeguarding sensitive ecosystems and wildlife habitats.

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This season, seven icebreakers were deployed to support community resupply and deliver key services such as icebreaking, search and rescue, maintaining aids to navigation, responding to marine pollution incidents and hazards, and supporting scientific research. The CCGS Amundsen was the first vessel deployed for the season on June 14, 2024, from Quebec City, QC, and the CCGS Des Groseilliers was the last vessel to return from the Arctic on December 8, 2024.

In Rankin Inlet, NU, the Arctic Marine Response Station was open from June 21 to October 22, 2024, and responded to eight search and rescue incidents. Aside from this essential service, the all-Indigenous team also performed four training exercises and patrolled over 737 nautical miles around the areas of Rankin Inlet, Chesterfield Inlet, and Whale Cove, NU.

In August, the Canadian Coast Guard welcomed the United States Coast Guard's (USCG) District 17 Rear Admiral Megan Dean aboard the CCGS Pierre Radisson in Resolute Bay, NU, and the CCGS Amundsen in Frobisher Bay, NU. From August 24 to 26, 2024, the Canadian Coast Guard joined the United States Navy, USCG, and the Royal Danish Navy for Operation NANOOK 2024, which is a yearly maritime exercise led by the Canadian Armed Forces to enhance surveillance and collective responsiveness in the Arctic. These continued partnerships play an important role in keeping northern waters safe and reinforces Canada's long-standing sovereignty in the North.

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For many years, Canada has aimed to manage the Arctic and northern regions cooperatively with other states as a zone of low tension that is free from military competition.

This approach had significant benefits, uniting the Arctic nations to advance cooperation on issues of common interest, such as sustainable development, environmental protection and scientific collaboration, including through the establishment of the Arctic Council in Ottawa in 1996.

However, the guardrails that we have depended on to prevent and resolve conflict have weakened. Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine has made cooperation with it on Arctic issues exceedingly difficult for the foreseeable future. Uncertainty and unpredictability are creating economic consequences that Canadians are facing everyday.

Threats to Canada’s security are no longer bound by geography; climate change is accelerating rapidly; and non-Arctic states, including China, are also seeking greater influence in the governance of the Arctic. To respond, Canada must be strong in the North American Arctic, and it requires deeper collaboration with its greatest ally, the United States. Canada must also maintain strong ties with its 5 Nordic allies, which are now also all NATO members.

The evolving security and political dynamics in the Arctic have triggered a need for a recalibrated diplomatic approach to advancing Canada’s national interests in the region, based on the principles of pragmatic diplomacy.

The Arctic Foreign Policy, a diplomatic strategy, addresses the challenges and opportunities Canada faces today, as well as those it expects to face in the coming decades. It gives Canada the diplomatic tools it needs to continue to assert its sovereignty, advance its national security interests and promote a stable, prosperous and secure Arctic.

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MAN Energy Solutions will deliver the engines, shafts and propellers for the AOPS’ integrated diesel-electric propulsion systems, as well as complete integrated logistics services (ILS) documentation. 

Each vessel will feature 4 × MAN 6L32/44CR engines, with each engine delivering 3,600 KW and utilizing common-rail (CR) electronic injection, high-efficiency turbochargers, electronic hardware and variable valve timing.

The company will also provide a selective catalytic reduction system with each engine. In combination with the SCR system, the common-rail injection system is expected to optimized each engine’s fuel consumption and emissions, resulting in IMO Tier III compliancy without sacrificing engine efficiency. This ultimately could reduce each ship’s carbon footprint to a minimum, a crucial factor when considering the fragile Arctic environment for which the ships are destined. 

Finally, MAN Energy Solutions will deliver 2 × MAN Alpha-branded five-bladed, bolted propellers that meet PC5 rules and which can even be exchanged underwater. These cater for higher cavitation inception speeds, possible shock impacts, and mission-critical conditions requiring additional redundancy, silent operation with minimal hydro-acoustic signatures, and suppressed underwater-radiated noise, the company highlighted.

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Halifax – Darren Fisher, Member of Parliament for Dartmouth-Cole Harbour, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, was  today at Irving Shipbuilding Inc. in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to celebrate significant construction milestones for the Canadian Coast Guard’s two new Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships and to announce their selected names.

A keel laying ceremony was held for the first Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship, the CCGS Donjek Glacier. The keel laying marks the moment when the first constructed module, or block, is placed in position and the ship begins to take form. Additionally, a ceremony to signify the start of construction was held for the second Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship, the CCGS Sermilik Glacier.

The Canadian Coast Guard’s new versatile and ice-capable ships will support fisheries enforcement and surveillance missions on Canada’s east coast, including Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization patrols. They will also support offshore search and rescue and icebreaking operations in Arctic and southern waters, strengthening Canada’s presence in the Arctic.

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Ocean going vessels are considered a significant contributor to climate change pollution. Starting July 1, some ships in Arctic waters will no longer be allowed to burn or carry heavy fuel oils (HFO), which are the dirtiest fuels on the planet.

However, HFO use and carriage will not be completely banned in the Arctic after 1 July 2024, according to the Clean Arctic Alliance.

A regulation will allow a significant number of ships to continue burning HFO until 1 July 2029 through two separate mechanisms. One regulation includes an exemption for ships that comply with specific fuel tank design requirements. These fuel tank design provisions  essentially require that the fuel tank be separated from the outer shell of the ship by a particular distance.

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This chapter seeks to outline the three functions required to ensure safe shipping in Canada’s Arctic; namely, safety, security and defence. Departments and their personnel ensure safe shipping via information, education and aids to navigation (safety function), enforcement of shipping laws (the constabulary or security function) and providing credible deterrence and defence against threats (the defence mandate). Thus, when it comes to safe shipping in Canada’s Arctic, Transport Canada, Canadian Ice Service (CIS), Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) and the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) as well as others, ship operators, and Indigenous governments, organizations, local communities and territorial governments, work to ensure that shipping in Canada’s Arctic is safe. Other agencies, including the CAF, contribute to safety to be sure, but the main agencies of note are mainly civilian and local agencies. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Transport Canada, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) and others ensure Canadian laws are respected. To deter and prosecute armed conflict, the CAF, especially the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN), seek to deter, deny and defeat State and non-State-based threats, such as a sea-launched missile, and monitor the movement of other military vessels.

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