U.S. Navy Arctic Blueprint

From the forward:

"This forward looking regional blueprint describes how the Department will apply naval power as we continue to prepare for a more navigable Arctic Region over the next two decades."

U.S. Navy Arctic Blueprint ... by lawofsea

Arctic Waters: U.S. Policy and the Sea Services

With our long Alaska Arctic coast (over 1000 miles), the U.S. is an Arctic power. What does that mean and how what is the U.S. approach to the Arctic waters?

On 23 July 14, there was testimony on this topic before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, where, among others, Coast Guard Vice Adm. Neffenger testified on implementing US policy in the Arctic :

Currently, Coast Guard vessels and aircraft monitor close to one million square miles of ocean off the Alaskan coast to enforce U.S. laws, conduct search and rescue, assist scientific exploration, advance navigation safety and foster environmental stewardship. Throughout his testimony, the Vice Commandant spoke to these diverse operations, focusing on the need for the continuous assessment of capabilities required to operate in the region, long-term icebreaking needs and the National Arctic Strategy.
****

USCG Polar Star

“Current and future operations in the Arctic and Antarctic will continue to be informed by the availability of polar icebreakers and ice-strengthened vessels. Polar Star’s recent reactivation will provide the U.S. with heavy icebreaker capability for another seven to 10 years,” said the Vice Commandant. “We believe that Polar Star along with the medium icebreaker Healy provide a minimum capability necessary to address the nation’s near-term icebreaking needs in the Arctic and Antarctic, and will give us the time we need to assess longer term national needs and requirements.”

I translate that last part as "We need more ice capable assets, including more real ice breakers."

The National Arctic Strategy:

U.S. National Arctic Strategy

The Coast Guard Arctic Strategy follows:

CG Arctic Strategy

The U.S. Navy has an "Arctic Roadmap"-

U.S. Navy Arctic Roadmap

You can watch the 23 July hearing here.

You might note the absence of pictures of U.S. Navy icebreakers - because the U.S. Navy hasn't got any. It used to, but not now.

Midrats Episode 168: "USCG and the Arctic" - Sunday 24 Mar 13 5pm

Join us Sunday 24 Mar 2013 at 5pm Eastern U.S. for Episode 168: "USCG and the Arctic" on Blog Talk Radio:

There is a fair bit of talk about the rush for the arctic for economic and strategic reasons - and where there is international interest on the seas, the nations involved need to think about what is the best way to secure their interests.

While the initial thought might be Navy - is the natural answer really the Coast Guard? If the USCG is the right answer, is it trained, manned and equipped for the job?
What does it need to do in order to fulfill its role - and why may it be the best answer to the question - who will show the flag up north?

Our guest this Sunday for the full hour from 5-6pm EST will be U.S. Naval War College Associate Professor James R. Holmes. As a starting point for our conversation, we will use his latest article in Foreign Policy: America Needs a Coast Guard That Can Fight: As the Arctic becomes an arena for conflict, the United States’ forgotten naval force will need to cowboy up.

Join us live or later by going to Midrats on BTR or picking up the show later from our iTunes page (lately there has been some delay in getting the show to iTunes, though, and the link may require iTunes).

Arctic Sea Space: Trans-Arctic Shipping "By MidCentury"

From the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S., "New Trans-Arctic shipping routes navigable by midcentury":

By midcentury, changing sea ice conditions enable expanded September navigability for common open-water ships crossing the Arctic along the Northern Sea Route over the Russian Federation, robust new routes for moderately ice-strengthened (Polar Class 6) ships over the North Pole, and new routes through the Northwest Passage for both vessel classes. Although numerous other nonclimatic factors also limit Arctic shipping potential, these findings have important economic, strategic, environmental, and governance implications for the region.

Of course they do.

We need a bigger presence in our Arctic Waters including Coast Guard and a U.S. Navy "Northern Fleet."

Global Energy: Russian Offshore Exploration

Reported by Ocean News, announced planned offshore Russia oil and gas exploration, including in the Barents Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk here:

Statoil will fund 100% of costs in the exploration phase, which includes an obligatory work program of six wildcat wells to be drilled during the period 2016-2021.

A fiscal reform package providing incentives for the development of Russian offshore , including through geological survey, was outlined in a Russian government decree of April 2012. Enactment and implementation of these measures will facilitate the conduct of more capital intensive exploration work.

According to this,

The Shareholder and Operating Agreements are identical for the four license areas. Rosneft will have an equity share of 66.67% in each of the operating joint ventures and Statoil´s share will be 33.33%. Statoil will fund 100% of costs in the exploration phase, which includes an obligatory work program of six wildcat wells to be drilled during the period 2016-2021.

Statoil is a Norwegian company with world-wide operations. Rosneft is a Russian company, 75% state owned.

More:

The Perseevsky license block is located in the western part of the Barents Sea. Prospective recoverable resources stand at over 2 bln toe.

The Magadan 1, Lisyansky and Kashevarovsky license blocks are located in the northern part of the Sea of Okhotsk. Prospective recoverable resources at these fields stand at over 1.4 bln toe.

One more step in the Arctic.