Although not currently required, spill response capacity could also include local, trained personnel and equipment adequate to protect sensitive shorelines and provide advice about important marine ecosystems and wildlife. An important accident prevention measure is the use of rescue-tugs to assist ships with mechanical problems, offer assistance to disabled ships and barges under learn more tow when necessary, and prevent these ships from grounding and causing serious environmental damage. Though there is little precedent for mandating tug capabilities in the Arctic, since 1999 the Washington State maritime industry
has permanently stationed an emergency response towing vessel at Neah Bay, Washington, click here near the mouth of the Strait of Juan
de Fuca [68]. In 2009, the Washington State legislature passed an act that requires tank, cargo, and passenger vessels traveling to or from a Washington port through the Strait of Juan de Fuca to establish and fund an emergency response system that would provide an emergency response towing vessel, also to be stationed at Neah Bay (CWR §88.46.130). The loss of control and subsequent grounding of the Kulluk drill rig off Kodiak, Alaska, in 2012 is an example of the need for expanded rescue and tug capabilities in Arctic waters, which are much farther removed than Kodiak from available response capacity. Providing information and other support to mariners can also enhance safety and reduce risk. Weather and ice forecasting fall into this category, as does the Coast Pilot, a mariner׳s resource describing selleck kinase inhibitor potential hazards and providing contact information published in the U.S. by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Modern nautical charts are also important tools in providing safe and secure maritime transportation throughout Arctic waters. Nautical charts supply mariners with the latest
information on accurate shorelines, topographic features, water depths, hazards, aids to navigation, and recommended routes. They also provide base geospatial data used for fishery stock assessments, coastal zone management, energy exploration, and other uses. Given that most of the region has been historically inaccessible due to the presence of thick, multi-year sea ice, much of the Arctic region has inadequate or outdated charting data. Moreover, existing charts date back to the 1800s, and the majority of Alaska׳s vast northern and western coastline has not been charted since the 1960s. As the U.S. Coast Pilot states, the Bering Sea is only “partially surveyed, and the charts must not be relied on too closely…” [69]. In 2013, NOAA identified the need for 14 new charts in the Arctic and is in the process of updating these charts. Charts have been released in the Bering Strait region that include the Bering Strait North (Chart 16190) and from St. Lawrence Island to the Bering Strait (Chart 16220) [70].