Maritime experts and Flag States gathered for a polar maritime seminar at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) headquarters in London 23-24 January 2025. The seminar was co-sponsored by the IMO and Norway’s Chairship of the Arctic Council in cooperation with the Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment Working Group of the Arctic Council (PAME).
The Polar Code entered into force in 2017. In 2022, the IMO Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) invited interested parties to propose a new output to address the identified gaps in and challenges experienced with the implementation of the Code. Extending the training requirements to all seafarers on board was one concrete suggestion mentioned for the Polar Code revision.
The seminar focused on the unique maritime challenges in polar waters, including ice, weather conditions, uncharted waters, search & rescue (SAR) and salvage capacities, places of refuge, training, underwater radiated noise and pollution prevention measures. A report was also given on PAME’s ongoing review of the Polar Operational Limit Assessment Risk Indexing System (POLARIS).
Following an update on the increase in both Arctic and Antarctic shipping, focus turned to the importance of voyage planning and casualty response. The International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) offers practical guidance on safe and environmentally responsible sailings to the cruise line industry in which lessons from near misses and incidents in the Antarctic are used. Andreas Brachel from Gard presented lessons learned from the 2018 ‘Northguider’ grounding in waters off northern Svalbard. The grounding showed the importance of a good collaboration between public and private parties when an incident occurs, and also the complexity of safe and environmentally friendly handling of casualty response in challenging Arctic waters.
Fishing vessels represent the largest group of vessels sailing in the Arctic. Through research at the Wageningen Economic Research, researcher Wouter-Jan Strietman told how they had found that a large proportion of plastic litter (not only fishing nets) in the Arctic is fisheries related. By providing knowledge of this, their Arctic Marine Litter project aims to be a catalyst for behavioural change and defining new practical solutions.
During the final session on fishing vessels safety, Dr Heike Deggim, Director of the IMO Marine Environment Division, made an urgent plea to persuade remaining Member States to ratify the Cape Town Agreement. Only 600 additional vessels are now needed for this important IMO legal instrument to enter into force, with long awaited minimum safety requirements for fishing vessels.
Presentations from the seminar are available here
