Article content continued

“On that route we never saw another ship honestly, never crossed within hailing distance of anyone for the seven or eight days until we got to the Western Arctic,” he said. “That was something.”

Some believe that emptiness could be short-lived as global warming causes summer ice to recede and journeys such as Keane’s stoke enthusiasm about the Arctic’s potential as a new frontier for maritime trade.

Photo by Handout Fednav Ltd.

Ships that have successfully gone “over the top” via Arctic routes such as the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea Route along Russia’s coastline have clocked major time savings: for instance, the Nunavik took 26 days to deliver its cargo, which is 15 fewer than the traditional voyage along the east coast of the United States and then through the Panama Canal.

Yet some experts say a multitude of challenges, including poor charting, unpredictable weather and a severe lack of port infrastructure and ice-breaking capability make Canada’s Arctic more likely to become a site for tourism and smaller-scale destinational shipping than a maritime superhighway.

What’s certain is that Canada’s responsibilities in the region — amid rising pleasure traffic, environmental concerns and aggressive investment by foreign powers — are growing more significant all the time.

“Canada’s motivation to be more engaged in the Arctic won’t come from an economic incentive like in Russia, but it should come from a desire to assert its sovereignty,” said Malte Humpert, senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Arctic Institute. “A country should have the capabilities to venture into its waters at any time of year, under any circumstance and right now Canada doesn’t really have that ability. That’s a big difference between Canada and Russia and it’s one that matters.”