Private yachts can still travel through the Northwest Passage undetected

Inuit guardians are on the front lines of maintaining sovereignty over the Northwest Passage, but small yachts are still allowed to travel through Nunavut’s waters undetected, experts told a conference in Iqaluit on June 26.

Because Inuit monitoring teams don’t have enforcement capabilities, any ships entering restricted waters in environmentally sensitive areas are simply referred to federal authorities, the Arctic Sovereignty and Security Summit heard.

“We observe and report because we don’t have the power to observe a vessel unless Transport Canada comes in to do that kind of work, so we still have a gap there,” said Daniel Taukie, the Inuit Marine Monitoring Program coordinator at Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated.

The summit heard several accounts of Inuit spotting vessels they didn’t recognize, and asked experts where these ships were coming from.

Unidentified vessels being spotted by local residents are likely private yachts that have turned off their tracking beacon, called an automated identification system (AIS).

“It’s not mandatory for the smaller vessels to have AIS, but many have it due to safety reasons,” Steven Lonsdale, senior program manager at the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, told the audience. “If we want to change that, we need to change the regulations.”

Lonsdale said he’s advocated for mandatory AIS on all ships in the Northwest Passage in the past, but that’s still not a reality.

New requirements coming 

However, the federal government will require all vessels to have permits before entering some marine conservation areas in the near future, Lonsdale said.

Most of the pleasure craft are going to Eastern Baffin Island, and the High Arctic generally, to observe the mountains and lakes, according to Taukie.

Both Taukie and Lonsdale praised Transport Canada and Parks Canada as productive partners in monitoring the Northwest Passage.

Lonsdale explained how Inuit guardians, or Nauttiqsuqtiit, are using traditional knowledge and modern science to facilitate enhanced maritime situational awareness for Transport Canada.

Nauttiqsuqtiit have learned the skills to survive in the wilderness, where they can use digital mapping software.

“They can create a digital fence anywhere, and if a ship is to cross that digital fence, they receive an alert on their cellphone as a text or an email,” Lonsdale said.

Nunavummiut communities and Transport Canada then receive updates from the Nauttiqsuqtiit on where vessels are heading.

The software only works, however, if the ships have their AIS system turned on.

That remains a legal requirement for all maritime transport, apart from small pleasure craft, Taukie and Lonsdale explained.

Monitoring cooperation “essential” says expert 

The cooperation between the federal government and Inuit peoples on monitoring the Northwest Passage and remaining stewards of the land is vital, said Suzanne Lalonde, professor of international law at the University of Montreal.

Canada’s claim over the Northwest Passage as internal waters – as opposed to an international shipping route – remains an open debate on the global stage.

“I’m worried that Canada’s legal position, which is based on, founded on Inuit use and stewardship, might be tested,” Lalonde said.

The most likely challenge against Canadian and Inuit sovereignty over the Northwest Passage is likely to come from the U.S., according to Lalonde.

Sightings of unknown vessels in open or restricted waters cause concern among Nunavummiut communities, Jeannie Ehaloak, a former mayor of Cambridge Bay, told the summit.

“There was one summer where there was a big silver yacht or a ship that came into Cambridge Bay, and it just sat there, nobody came off, nobody got on,” Ehaloak said. “Why were they there? Do we know who they are? Do we know what they’re doing here?”

Related stories from around the North: 

Canada: ‘Port of Churchill is primed to be major Cdn trade asset’: Arctic Gateway Group CEO, CBC New

Norway: Hybrid-powered electric cruise ship navigates Northwest Passage, CBC News

Russia: New New Shipping, Rosatom to build container ships for year-round Arctic sailings, The Independent Barents Observer

United States: U.S. regulator eyes Arctic shipping chokehold as key deadline approaches, Eye on the Arctic