Frédéric Lasserre

Logistics and the Internet: transportation and location issues are crucial in the logistics chain

Abstract The advent of the “new economy”, embodied by the expansion of the Internet, has been thought by some to marginalize the importance of geography and space. Distances are reportedly irrelevant as markets are now just a click away. E-trade and the advent of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems provide firms with the tools they can use to free themselves of space. In fact, the Internet and ERP do change the relationship between firms and their space and their markets, but they do not abolish them: location choices are still important as is transportation. The need to transport quickly and efficiently, brought about by the expansion of E-trade, establishes transportation as the effort of mastering space. This has translated into the fast expansion of cargo airliners in logistics.

The cruise tourism industry in the Canadian Arctic: analysis of activities and perceptions of cruise ship operators.

With the melting of sea ice in the Arctic, the potential for higher shipping access has markedly changed. Shipping activity in the Arctic is increasing, including tourism and exploration activities, underlining the need for reliable communication and monitoring. This article examines the interactions between climate and sea ice change, the patterns of cruise ship tourism through Arctic Canada and the interest of operators to increase their activities in the cruise tourism market in the region. Since 1995, the melting of the summer pack ice in the offers the possibilities of increased shipping in this region while encouraging speculation regarding the potential of the northwest passage (NWP) and the Canadian Arctic to become a major cruise maritime highway. Integrating research from both human and transport geography, this article presents an analysis of vessel movements. It also analyses perceptions of charters and cruise ship operators and of their interests in the cruise tourism market. Discussion is focused on issues associated with the lack of available vessels and maritime infrastructure, regulations in the Canadian arctic waters, security and search and rescue. This research could prove useful for communities, and policy makers, as well as the cruise sector itself, with regard to response to change in these remote locations.

Arctic shipping routes : from the Panama myth to reality.

Fast-receding summer sea ice in the Arctic has been documented and making the headlines since 2007. The phenomenon, underlined by scientists and the media since about the turn of the century, has triggered speculation about the opening of much shorter sea routes linking Europe via the eastern North American coast to Asia. The prospect of growing shipping traffic in Arctic waters, especially through the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic archipelago, or through the northeast passage north of Russia, has fuelled rhetoric on the status of these Arctic routes and controversy over the pace of such shipping growth. Few analysts question the common belief that it is only a matter of time before new sea lanes will be operational in the Arctic. This prospect is at the very heart of the ongoing debate on security in the Canadian Arctic, for it raises the issue of control of such navigation, and therefore of Canadian sovereignty over the Northwest Passage and the Canadian Arctic waters. It is this debate over control of navigation, often depicted as something bound to experience out-of-hand growth, that triggered the house of commons to vote in favour of a highly debatable resolution in December 2009, renaming the Northwest Passage the Canadian Northwest Passage, a move unlikely to attract any sympathy elsewhere in the world.But how much truth is there in the widely accepted notion that melting sea ice, opening up Arctic channels in the summer, will lead to greatly increased sea traffic in the region? Shorter distances seem to be the main factor considered by commentators, but shipping companies take many other questions into account before their managers decide to develop Arctic shipping. Indeed, shipping companies are in no rush to develop what they perceive to be a risky and not necessarily profitable route.FACTS: ARCTIC SEA ICE IS RECEDING IN THE SUMMERThe year 2007 saw a record low in the extent of summer sea ice, and the data show a trend towards an accelerated decline of the ice. Five years ago, climatologists talked about a possible ice-free Arctic Ocean in the summer by the year 2100, but models now suggest that this could happen as early as 2015.1 Ever since Arctic- wide data for the extent of sea ice were computed in 1979, a general declining trend has been observed. To be sure, there is an inter-annual variability and it is difficult from year to year to predict the extent of the ice the following year, but the general trend definitely points towards an accelerating decline.Regression trends for shorter periods follow a steeper slope as time goes by, indicating that the pace of melting has accelerated over the past years. This means that the ice is melting faster and faster, with the prospect of ice-free summers as early as 2015 in some models, underlining the real possibility of little ice remaining in the summertime.This receding sea ice opens up channels that were long sought by Europeans to reach Asia, across the fabled northwest or northeast passages. The Northwest Passage is generally understood as the sea stretch from Lancaster Sound to the Bering Strait, although many authors limit its scope to the Canadian archipelago. The northeast passage - also called the northern sea route by Russia - follows the Siberian Arctic coast and crosses Russian Arctic straits between the mainland and Russian Arctic archipelagos: Novaya Zemlya, Sevemaya Zemlya, the New Siberian Islands, and Wrangel Island. There is a difference here between the two passages: the Northwest Passage rests almost entirely in Canadian-claimed internal waters if it is defined as extending from Baffin Bay to the Beaufort Sea, whereas the northeast passage merely skips across Russian straits and thus Russian-claimed internal waters, but for the most part lies outside Russian territorial waters, except in a few places. The route lies rather in the Russian exclusive economic zone, which is not insignificant, since Russian regulations on shipping along the northern sea route, based upon article 234 of the UN law of the sea, oblige ships to respect Russian regulations within Russias economic zone, particularly with regard to mandatory piloting and icebreaker escort. …

The Position of the United States on the Northwest Passage: Is the Fear of Creating a Precedent Warranted?

For decades, Ottawa and Washington have been agreeing to disagree on the question of the legal status of the Northwest Passage. One argument which has been consistently raised on the U.S. side and which has precluded attempts to end the deadlock has been the fear of creating a negative precedent. This article assesses whether U.S. concerns are warranted: could coastal States elsewhere in the world rely on an eventual recognition of Canadian sovereignty over the Northwest Passage to bolster their claims over a local strait?

Arctic shipping insurance : towards a harmonisation of practices and costs?

Insurance is an important component of shipping costs, albeit minor when compared to capital, crew or fuel. If the literature of Arctic shipping agrees that insurance premiums are likely to be higher for Arctic shipping, no study so far has tried to assess the cost of Arctic shipping insurance premiums, nor what specific demands insurance firms might formulate before agreeing to give coverage to a shipping company, thus presenting obstacles to entry in the Arctic shipping market. We first present insurance policies and costs as they are discussed in the literature on Arctic shipping. We also sketch out how their risk-assessment process was influenced by the IMO (International Maritime Organization) and classification societies. Then we outline the results of a survey conducted between 2012 and 2013 with insurance firms on their Arctic shipping policies.

Simulations of shipping along Arctic routes: comparison, analysis and economic perspectives

Arctic sea routes have for long been of interest for shipping because of much shorter distances between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Sea ice prevented real development of significant traffic, but did not prevent research from trying to assess their economic viability. With the melting of sea ice in the Arctic, this effort at modeling the profitability of Arctic shipping routes has received a new impetus. However, the conclusions of these studies vary widely, depending on the parameters chosen and their value. What can be said of these models, from 1991 until 2013, and to what extent can a model be drawn, capitalising on twenty years of simulations?

Winter shipping in the Canadian Arctic : toward year-round traffic?

With the rapidly melting sea ice in the Arctic, and developing shipping traffic, emerged the idea, popular with the media, that sea ice would soon be completely dominated by first-year ice, and would thus be comparable to ice present in the Gulf of St. Lawrence: this would allow for the setting up of shipping year-round along Arctic passages. In fact, contrary to this idea, even with the vanishing of multi-year ice, ice conditions will remain very different in the Arctic from ice prevailing in the Gulf. Besides, naval technology certainly helps overcoming challenges of ice navigation, but they do not mean it is economically or technically much easier. Year-round shipping in the Arctic remains a difficult challenge to overcome.

Is China's interest for the Arctic driven by Arctic shipping potential?

Interest from the Chinese government has been on the rise since about 2005, and the media have widely reported on these Chinese projects. China is often described as being very interested in both Arctic mineral resources and the opening of Arctic shipping routes, but in this characterization there is a hint of a perceived threat, as commentators are often stressing out that Chinas appetite may lead Beijing into considering the Northwest Passage an international strait and resources as open up for grabs. However, the motives for this Chinese interest boils down to three points: diplomacy, access to natural resources, and access to Arctic sea routes. To what extent are Chinese shipping firms really interested in developing active service along these polar waterways?

Commercial shipping in the Arctic : new perspectives, challenges and regulations

Maritime traffic is increasing in Arctic seas in the context of climate change. The rapid melting of sea ice led to the widespread belief that traffic was set to expand rapidly, challenging Canadian and Russian-claimed sovereignties over their respective Arctic passage, and underlining the risk posed by such a traffic in a risky but fragile environment. If projections on potential traffic for the medium term are probably exaggerated, the increasing traffic nevertheless challenges the adequacy of the regulatory framework.

The mining industry in Canada north of the 55th parallel: a maritime traffic generator?

This paper reviews and assesses the state of the mining industry in Canada north of the 55th parallel. It aims to describe and monitor to what extent the development of mining projects in the Canadian Arctic are likely to trigger and expand commercial shipping in Canadian Arctic waters. Based on a literature and statistical review of publicly available information, the results show that only 3 actives mines out of 10 rely on a shipping logistics through Canadian Arctic waters to export raw materials. Once active and in operation, seven other mining projects will likely increase commercial shipping activities through Canadian Arctic waters, while it remains difficult to quantify precisely. However, this paper argues that the viability of northern mineral development is related to a wide variety of conditions including access to capital and foreign direct investment for the development and construction of infrastructure, international market conditions, and shifting demand which largely determines commodity prices and the profitability of a project, harsh environmental conditions, and high operating costs in northern latitudes. In this context, there is no Arctic mining rush and all these factors contribute to increasing the cost of doing business in the north.