Climate: Military Secrets could be key to sustainable Arctic shipping on Northern Sea Route
Vladimir Putin and Russia are pushing for cargo ships to go through the Northern Sea Route across the country's polar shore. But problems with noise pollution and access to fossil fuels are some of the issues facing the proposition.
Saturday 6 November 2021 13:49, UK
Secret military technologies could be the key to sustainable shipping in the Arctic - including protecting whales and other wildlife.
Vladimir Putin is pushing for year-round shipping across Russia's Arctic north as a new passage from Europe to Asia.
It comes as the COP26 climate summit is set to discuss green shipping corridors on Wednesday this week.
But there are a myriad of challenges facing anyone looking to make the journey through what used to be impassable ice.
What is it?
The Northern Sea Route (NSR) stretches from the Bering Sea, past Siberia and the north of Russia, exiting into the North Sea between the UK and Norway.
Access to the freezing waters along the country's northern shores has become easier in recent decades due to the thinning of the ice and greater ice-free periods as the Earth warms.
The route cuts roughly 19 days from the journey between Europe and east Asia, potentially saving CO2 emissions, but also raising other environmental dangers like hard to clear oil slicks.
It also offers an alternative option to traversing the Suez canal bottleneck or the threats faced at the Horn of Africa and Malacca Strait.
With billions of dollars already invested in developing the route, scientists say it is now imperative to make sure shipping in the area is managed, rather than stopped.
Dr Eero Rinne, an associate professor at the University Centre in Svalbard and expert on Arctic geophysics, says greater use of the route is more a matter of when, not if.
"I would say this is a thing that realistically will increase, and it can't be stopped, it should be managed - made in the safest possible manner," Dr Rinne told Sky News.
"If you have a container in Korea, it might actually produce less CO2 to bring it through the Northern Sea Route because it's shorter.
"But on the other hand, it is a difficult equation because if you go through the NSR, you might want to invest in a stronger ship, which means a bigger engine, which means it takes more fuel to drive it."
In February this year - when the ice in the Arctic is thickest - the gas tanker Christophe de Margerie completed the first navigation of the NSR at this stage of the season.
The head of Sovcomflot, the Russian company which operates the vessel and has invested in the NSR, said it showed the validity of the route.
What are the problems?
One of key concerns about increased naval traffic is the noise pollution caused by the vessels - specifically the effect on the native whale population.
Bowheads, Belugas and Narwhals all make their homes in the northern waters, and could be disturbed by the noisy propulsion systems on ships.
When propellers move through the water, they cause bubbles to form and collapse in their wake in a very loud process called cavitation.
This can lead to noises of up to 180 decibels - enough to destroy a human's hearing - and can be heard 100 miles away.
Noise travels further underwater, and can inhibit the way whales communicate - especially between potential mates as well as families.
Dr Lauren McWhinnie, at Heriot Watt University, said: "It's like humans in a pub, trying to communicate important information. You risk missing the call for the last round of drinks [because of the noise]."
"Eighty percent-plus of the noise [from a ship] is linked to the propeller itself," she added.
But while container ships travelling through the route might not cause as many issues, Russia is already using locations along the NSR to extract fossil fuels from within the Arctic.
Dr Rinne said: "Gas and oil are probably the majority of the traffic [in the NSR], and unfortunately it will most likely stay that way."
He added: "Arctic oil exploration is one of the things that we really should not be done - as someone who does climate change research I think the Arctic oil should be left where it is."
What can be done?
Scientists are disappointed the Russian premier is not attending the COP26 summit and discussing the issue.
Dr McWhinnie, said: "I think it's disappointing. When you don't have all the players at the table, the likelihood of success becomes slightly less."
She thinks the world's navies might have the answers to more sustainable use of the NSR because of their expertise in making sure their vessels can operate unnoticed.
"The military absolutely knows how to run quiet propellers - because that's what our military depend on for their submarines.
"The problem is, a lot of those specifications come with huge amounts of secrecy attached to them, because it costs them billions of dollars to design in the first place."
Professor Mehmet Atlar, from Strathclyde University's department of naval architecture ocean and marine engineering, said that reducing "cavitation means that additional "complex propulsors" are needed to help power vessels.
He said the military were unwilling to share their knowledge due to "military confidentiality" and "national security".
"Otherwise, the technology is there to apply," he said.
But the cost of "complex propulsors" would have to be borne by shipping companies, he added.
Dr McWhinnie added that scientists are working on other measures to protect wildlife, including efforts to map where whales feed, mate and birth in order to protect them from interference with ships.
There are also the political difficulties of operating so close to Russia.
President Putin has previously said that he wants to welcome other countries to the route - "we are not going to restrict anyone," he said, according to the TASS news agency.
But Dr Rinne says that any vessel traversing the NSR will need a Russian icebreaker to travel with it.
He warned of potential risks for crews as Russian standards of search and rescue "might be a bit different" to those expected by other nations.
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