ARCTIC ROUTES: C/S PETER FABER NORTHWEST PASSAGE TRANSIT AUGUST 2008

Transcription

1 ARCTIC ROUTES: C/S PETER FABER NORTHWEST PASSAGE TRANSIT AUGUST 2008 David Tossell (Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks /ALDA Marine) Louis Dreyfus Armateurs / ALDA Marine, 28, Quai Gallieni, Suresnes, France Abstract: Climate change with increasing water temperatures in the Northwest Passage has made transit between Asia or northwest America and Europe a reality. The Alcatel-Lucent cable ship C/S Peter Faber made its way through Northwest Passage in August 2008, saving thousands of nautical miles in comparison with a classic Suez transit. 1 NORTHWEST PASSAGE OVERVIEW From West to East the Northwest Passage runs through the Bering Strait (separating Russia and Alaska), Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, and then through several waterways that go through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. There are five to seven routes through the archipelago, including the McClure Strait, Dease Strait, and the Prince of Wales Strait, but not all of them are suitable for larger ships. The passage then goes through Baffin Bay and the Davis Strait into the Atlantic Ocean. Figure 1 : The Northwest Passage Routes 2 AGE OF EXPLORATION, HISTORY As a result of their westward explorations and their settlement of Greenland, the Vikings sailed as far north and west as Ellesmere Island, Skraeling Island and Ruin Island for hunting expeditions and trading with Inuit groups. The subsequent arrival of the Little Ice Age is thought to be one of the reasons that further European seafaring into the Northwest Passage ceased until the late 15th century. The first recorded attempt to discover the Northwest Passage was the east-west voyage of John Cabot in 1497, sent by Henry VII in search of a direct route to the Orient. The next of several British expeditions was launched in 1576 by Martin Frobisher, who took three trips west to what is now the Canadian Arctic in order to find the passage. Although most Northwest Passage expeditions originated in Europe or on the east coast of North America and sought to traverse the passage in the westbound direction, some progress was made in exploration of its western end as well. In 1728 Vistus Bering, a Danish Navy officer in Russian service, used the strait first discovered by Semyon Dezhnyov in 1648 but later accredited to and named after Bering (the Bering Strait), concluding North America and Russia were separate land masses. Copyright 2010 SubOptic Page 1 of 6

2 Franklin expedition In 1845 a lavishly equipped two-ship expedition led by Sir John Franklin sailed to the Canadian Arctic to chart the last unknown swaths of the Northwest Passage. Franklin died in 1847 and Captain Francis Rawdon Moira Crozier took over command. In 1848 the expedition abandoned ships and tried to escape south across the tundra by sledge. [1] McClure Expedition During the search for Franklin, Commander Robert McClure and his crew in HMS Investigator traversed the Northwest Passage from west to east in the years 1850 to 1854, partly by ship and partly by sledge. Amundsen expedition The Northwest Passage was not conquered by sea until 1906, when the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, who had sailed just in time to escape creditors seeking to stop the expedition, completed a three-year voyage in the converted 47-ton herring boat Gjøa. At the end of this trip, he walked into the city of Eagle, Alaska, and sent a telegram announcing his success. [1] 3 RECENT YEARS (21ST CENTURY) There has been speculation that the effects of global warming may result in the passage becoming clear enough to again permit safe commercial shipping for at least part of the year. On August 21, 2007, the Northwest Passage became open to ships without the need for an icebreaker. According to Nalan Koc of the Norwegian Polar Institute this is the first time it has been clear since the institute began keeping records in The Northwest Passage opened again on August 25, 2008 which was the date the C/S Peter Faber transited the passage. 4 VOYAGE NARATIVE AND PICTURES Below is a brief account of the C/S Peter Faber s transit through the Northwest Passage from Taiwan to Newfoundland to support the Greenland Connect PLIB operations. The photos have been taken by the crew, and the article has been written by 2 nd officer Anders Lundsgaard. On Sunday August 3 rd the Peter Faber departed its hometown for the past months, Keelung, Taiwan. Ahead of us was 4 weeks of navigation towards Newfoundland, which would take us through the NW passage and parts of north Canada and what some might say more than the usual transit from A to B. The final destination was St. John s, Newfoundland some 7582n.m. away! After a short stopover of just 5 hours and 20 minutes in Hakodate, Japan, the voyage continued towards the Bering Strait, passing the Cyril Islands, the Kamkatcha peninsula and the Aleutian Islands. On Wednesday the 13 th August, we passed the dateline, setting the calendar one day back and had the August 13 th again the next day! On most Danish ships it is a tradition that hot chocolate is served for the 3 o clock break. So, too the delight of the crew, we had hot chocolate two days in a row. Saturday August 16 th saw us pass through the Bering Strait at first light, a beautiful clear morning greeted us and we had views of Russia to port and Alaska to starboard as we continued towards the Arctic Circle, which we entered just before noon on Saturday. Being a Danish ship we felt a bit like a modern Vistus Bering, the Danish explorer who first went through almost 300 years ago. The strait was named after him, and also the Island where he is buried. With the voyage around NW Alaska came the first wind and high seas since Keelung. Copyright 2010 SubOptic Page 2 of 6

3 But more importantly, we had entered an area with the first of many icebergs. As the icebergs were spread over a large area there was no problem navigating through these. Most of the crew gathered on the bridge to take photos. (The digital camera is a very nice thing ) Figure 2 : A Typical Boulder of Second Year Ice The rest of the voyage to Tuktoyaktuk (Tuk) was nice and quiet, and we arrived in Tuk during the evening of the 19 th. Due to the very low water level in Tuk bay, we had to drop anchor some 23n.m. from Tuk, so unfortunately we did not see much of this very remote town. On the 20 th we received bunkers via a barge and picked up some fresh provisions and then the Peter Faber and its crew were ready to tackle the NW passage. The Northwest Passage is south of Victoria Island, up north via Victoria Sound and Peel Sound and east trough Lancaster Sound, north around Baffin Island and down south through David Strait. The presence of polar bears, seals and ice were just a few of the things we hoped to encounter, so new memory cards were installed in all our cameras!! On Saturday August 23 rd in Victoria Sound, we saw it!!!! Plenty of ice, all over and many photos were taken. A high level of caution was implemented during navigation. We had two ice-pilots from Canada on board, and their expertise was now put into good use, especially their knowledge of where we might find an opening in the ice and where we definitely would not. The only other occupants sharing this part of the passage apart from the ice, was a couple of seals, who stuck their heads out of the water to see us pass through. The crew decided that this was worth the whole voyage, but a few icebergs would also be nice to see, and we hoped for more visual encounter on arrival at Baffin Bay. By the next day we had ice again, bringing us the same situation as Saturday. It was possible for us to cut a corner in the north of Peel Sound, and avoid the worst part of the ice. At this time it was feasible for the vessel to navigate through the icebelt, and to the delight of the crew, another very good photo opportunity was given. Figure 3 : C/S Peter Faber in the Ice! We had a very nice weekend with a lot to talk about and many pictures to take and show. On Sunday evening came the highlight, a polar bear was lying sleeping - on a big piece of ice, and did not seem to care about the vessel. Only when we came closer, did the polar bear stand up, ready to defend its home it was only when we got very close that the polar bear jumped into the water and swam away. Copyright 2010 SubOptic Page 3 of 6

4 On Monday August 25 th in Lancaster Sound the ice once again forced a stop to our voyage. This time the situation was a bit more serious as the ice was more compact than what we had seen on Saturday and Sunday. The amount of ice is measured in tenths of open water, for example in Victoria Sound we had seen 3/10 ice and in Peel Sound 4/10 ice, but on Monday morning it was 5/10 with patches of 8-9/10 leaving us with hardly any passages where the vessel would be able to sail through. We sailed very slowly into the ice and started to make our way through knowing that our ice-class was for navigating around the ice and not trying to break it. After approximately 30 minutes the Captain and the ice-pilots decided that there was no way we would be able to safely make our way further into and pass the ice. We turned back to where we came from, making our way along the edge of the ice to see if there would be an opening for us. After some searching a new opening was found in the ice and another attempt was made, this time we had more luck and we were able to sail/steer through, and very slowly we sailed deeper into the ice. After some hours we found a place with a bit of open water, so the MOB-Boat was launched with 2 members from the crew and their digital cameras. The weather was very nice, with a clear blue sky and the sunlight reflecting in the ice. After the MOB-boat was safely back on board, we still had to struggle for some hours before we were finally clear of the ice, enabling us to continue towards our destination port, St. John s. Just before we come to the ice edge, another polar bear came our way, this time it was swimming just across the bow of the vessel. It must have been wondering what we were doing, because normally there would be no traffic in this area. The fun thing is that everybody knows what a polar bear looks like, but seeing them in their natural environment and not just in the Zoo made the experience something special. The voyage continued out through Lancaster Sound then into Baffin Bay and out among the real icebergs, and yes, there they were and some were really big. Even though the Peter Faber is not the biggest vessel in the fleet some of the icebergs we saw made the vessel look like a toy ship only to be used in the bathtub. With only about 30% of the iceberg above the surface we did not want to get too close just incase one of them started to roll over. Copyright 2010 SubOptic Page 4 of 6

5 Figure 4 : Icebergs of unknown size, but very big! On our voyage we had a visitor, King Neptune Rex came on board to baptize all who had not been Arctic baptized before. So with a cup of cold water down the neck and back, and a certificate, everybody on board was ready to continue. It must be better to get an Equator-baptism, the water is warmer and hopefully it will be a mermaid coming on board and not an old, bearded, slightly overweight merman!!! It has been a long voyage for the Peter Faber and the crew, but our encounter with the ice and especially the polar bears made it a very special one. Next on the agenda is PLIB off Newfoundland, so it is back to real work!!! (PLIB has commenced with good progress.) With best regards, Anders Lundgaard on behalf of Master C/S Peter Faber. 5 THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE NAVIGATION TODAY The outcome of our experience (C/S Peter Faber transit in 2008), and from the similar Arctic transits completed by ships last year, is that the navigational routes between ports located in Asia or northwest America and Europe via Arctic routes can be commercially attractive on a case by case basis. This depends on the time when the transit has to be made, the ship s tonnage, its ice class, the necessity to take cargo or not during the voyage. Consideration must be given to the fact that nearly no assistance can be expected in some ports during transit. Also to be taken into account are possible speed limitations during transit even during summer, and the high insurance premium. Finally the ice conditions in the Arctic can change dramatically from year to year making long term planning difficult. Despite these considerations, the Northwest Passage was a very valuable option for the Peter Faber during summer 2008 in her particular operational situation, which was from ROV support operations in the NW Pacific to other ROV support operations between Eastern Canada and Greenland. 6 C/S PETER FABER NORTHWEST PASSAGE EXPERIENCE The Transit The voyage was made by C/S Peter Faber (79 meters length, 5 meters draft, Ice Class B1) from Keelung, Taiwan to Nuuk, Greenland during summer 2008 via the Northwest Passage. Cutting Corners A call was made in Hakodate (Japan), and one in Tuktoyaktuk (NW Canada). The route via Northwest Passage was 4280n.m. shorter than the via Suez Canal alternative, which would have resulted in 15 days additional transit time. Demystifying the Process The preparation of the voyage consisted of the following: Checking the passage window in relation with the Ice Class of the ship and zone classification Embarking two Canadian ice pilots in Hakodate (Japan) Organising bunkering in Tuktoyaktuk (NW Canada) Copyright 2010 SubOptic Page 5 of 6

6 Upgrading the radio equipment to class A4 Sourcing information concerning the details of navigation in ice from the Canadian Coastguards Ice Control Centre, and the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act from the Transport Ministry, Canada Fitting on Xenon searchlight. At a very early stage in the transit planning process, the estimated ice condition was forecast based on water temperatures measured in March (5 months prior to the transit). Through the reliable contacts all communication and planning progressed without complications. Charts and Pictures A marvelled crew took a lot of photos in the continuous light of these high latitudes. The poster will be based on the chart below where information captions and shots from the transit will be inserted. Figure 6 : Northwest Passage Route 7 REFERENCES [1] Wikipedia Northwest Passage article, (Chapter 1 to 5) Figure 5 : Ice zone map and corresponding table for Northwest Passage, from Transport Canada Lesson Learnt This route is not currently used frequently and requires careful preparation. The transit became a reality purely due to the planning and guidance given by the Canadian Coast Guard. Copyright 2010 SubOptic Page 6 of 6