Why We Need More Icebreakers

Below, you can see a shrinking Arctic ice and snow cover:

Less ice in the Arctic means more shipping traffic.

The Arctic Economy

Asked what so barren an expanse hides beneath its surface, we could say massive wealth. Including titanium, palladium, nickel, cobalt, and zinc and oil and gas, the list of minerals is long. We could also name the natural resource laden Lomonosov Ridge (an undersea mountain, covering as much as 1,100 miles and rising to 12,000 feet) that Russia, Canada, and Greenland each say belongs to them. In addition, as its ice melts, the Arctic will become a handy shipping shortcut.

Although polar ice receded by 17% between 2013 and 2019, there still is too much for normal commercial vessels. Instead, a powerful boat needs to break up the ice ahead of normal traffic. However, making an icebreaker takes a special kind of steel that, at least an inch thick, can be shaped into a smooth curve for the ship’s hull. Then, to crack and shift the ice, the vessel needs massive propulsion. Tough to imagine, the bow cracks the ice by moving on top of it and then nudges it under adjacent ice.

Once the water is clear, a vessel can sail through:

You can see that the U.S. is way behind:

Our icebreaker fleet is dismal. We have just one 49-year old heavy duty vessel and a second one that has less capability.

The Polar Star is our only heavy duty icebreaker:

Our Bottom Line: Land, Labor, and Capital

As economists, we can return to land, labor, and capital.

Land

Arctic land includes all naturally existing resources. While we could have selected the minerals and the wildlife, the ice especially has changed. Forty years ago, close to 30 percent of the Arctic Ocean’s pack ice was at least four years old at the end of the winter. Now, replaced by new ice that is thinner and melts more easily, most of the old ice is gone. Melting during the summer, the new ice facilitates the increase in shipping:

Labor

The darkness is depressing, alcohol is prohibited, and there are almost no women. The farther north you go, the more dangerous the digging and drilling become. And it’s really cold–negative 60 degrees. As a result, it’s tough to get labor to work there, even when the money can be as much as $300,000 during a long season.

Capital

The icebreaker is the standout for the capital part of our equation. Even with higher temperatures, commercial vessels need icebreaker assistance. Sort of like a quarterback’s offensive line, commercial vessels need icebreakers to run ahead and clear the ice. Meanwhile, housing can be our everyday reminder of the cold. While a dwelling has to be warm for its inhabitants, it needs a cool foundation to preserve the tundra’s permafrost. Otherwise it could trigger a landslide that is called a slump.

So, where are we? Deserving much more attention for its wealth, the Arctic economy is a daunting challenge.

My sources and more: Thanks to WSJ, here and here, for inspiring today’s post. From there I discovered that the Arctic Institute had a really cool list of reports. And finally, for more detail, we can add The Economist and a paper on the Lomonosov Ridge.