Stuck in Arctic Sea Ice

The grounding of a research cruise vessel in a remote polar region the last week of August was a reminder of the hazards of increased ship traffic in an ice-free Arctic. The University of Rhode Island's Inner Space Center (ISC) planned to conduct an innovative Northwest Passage Project research expedition with a team of natural and social scientists, students and a professional film crew from August 23 to September 13. ¹

The research was to aid the understanding and documentation of climate change effects. The expedition team was to engage a wide public audience through an extensive and unprecedented internet presence from the area including Facebook live broadcasts from sea. Then, predictably something happened that has happened to other 'climate change' expeditions in either the Arctic or Antarctica. On the morning of August 24, the Akademik Ioffe became grounded in the western Gulf of Boothia in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The ship has since been refloated, and following a full and successful systems check been repositioned to anchor. All passengers were safely returned and cared for. ¹ Ed Struzik, a Canadian author and photographer offered this harrowing account.² The grounding of the research vessel was a reminder of the hazards of increased ship traffic in an ice-free Arctic. Had the weather not worked in our favor and there been thick ice such as we sailed through earlier, it could have ended far worse. Heading up the stairs, I could see that the ship listed to one side, and I suspected that things were worse than we were being told. Members of the Russian crew were running around with life jackets on. Some were heading to the dining room to seal the windows shut. Others were climbing the stairs to man the life boats. The seas were relatively calm, but the boat was rocking back and forth, making grinding noises as the captain tried unsuccessfully to reverse the main propulsion and deploy the engine thrusters to power us off the shoal we were sitting on.

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Fortunately, the Russian sister ship, Akadmik Sergey Vavilov, came to the rescue, as it happened to be in the area due to changes in its routing. Still, it was a 16 hour wait before it arrived, and another 15 hours for it to take us back to Kugaaruk where we were to await planes that were being sent to take us home ² More recently, another rescue took place. An 11 meter sailboat was crushed and sunk by Arctic ice in the Bellot Strait on August 29. The vessel was attempting the Northwest Passage. The captain may have believed the propaganda about an ice-free Arctic. The Canadian Coast Guard took 11 hours to rescue 2 persons after the sinking. ³ These two aren't the first time events of this sort have occurred. In June 2017 a science team on Canadian research icebreaker CCGS Amundsen involving 40 scientists from five universities and $17 million in taxpayer funding to study climate change canceled the first leg of the 2017 Arctic expedition due to extreme ice conditions in the south. The cancellation occurred because of the severe ice conditions and the increasing demand for search and rescue operations and ice escort. ⁴ Another mission to answer questions about climate change also got caught in the ice, but this time it was in the Antarctic in 2014. The ice breaker Aurora Australis helped rescue the 52-person crew on board the Antarctic sea ice research vessel Akademik Shokalskiiy which ferried a global warming/polar ice melt exploration led by Professor Chris Turney. This expedition devolved into a highly publicized folly attracting much worldwide ridicule. Eventually, a helicopter from the Chinese ice breaker Xue Long succeeded in ferrying Turner and his crew to safety. ⁵

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The burgeoning polar cruise industry has also had its share of troubles. In August 1996, the Hanseatic ran aground in the Canadian Arctic, piercing two of the ship's fuel reservoirs. All 153 passengers were evacuated by helicopter. In 2010 the Clipper Adventurer ran into shoal in the Coronation Gulf. The 128 passengers and 69 crew members were rescued. In both cases, favorable weather and ice conditions prevented a disaster. ² The increasingly chaotic nature of the climate system in the Arctic is making it difficult to predict how sea ice is going to behave. The changing ice conditions are also making it difficult to rely on climatological technology to predict day to day and seasonal environmental variability in the region. Refernces

1. Anthony Watts, “Another ship of fools gets grounded in Arctic ice, needs rescue,” wattsupwiththat.com, August 27, 2018
2. Ed Struzik, “In the melting Arctic, a harrowing account account from a stranded ship,” Yale Environment 360, August 29, 2018
3. Anthony watts, “Arctic ice claims another ship—this time with a sinking,” wattsupwiththat.com, August 30, 2018
4. “Large Canadian Arctic global warming study canceled due to climate change,” newsumanitoba.ca, June 14, 2017
5. Pierre Gosselin, “Ice breaker helped rescue Turney's 'ship of fools' in meters-thick summer time Antarctic sea ice.” notrickszone.com February 29, 2014