Canada tightens grip on Arctic waters

Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories: Canada's prime minister moved to firm up control of disputed Arctic waters Wednesday by announcing stricter registration requirements for ships sailing in the Northwest Passage.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said all ships sailing into the Canadian Arctic will be required to report to Nordreg, the Canadian Coast Guard agency that tracks vessels on such journeys. Registration currently is voluntary.

Canada's control of the Northwest Passage is widely disputed internationally, including by the United States and the European Union. Most countries consider the passage to be international waters.

Global warming has raised the stakes in the scramble for sovereignty in the Arctic because shrinking polar ice could someday open up resource development and new shipping lanes.

The rapid melting of ice has raised speculation that the Northwest Passage linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans could one day become a regular shipping lane. This summer has seen record traffic by cruise ships and pleasure craft in the Arctic.

The fabled Northwest Passage runs from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the Arctic archipelago. Early European explorers sought the passage as a shorter route to Asia, but found it rendered inhospitable by ice and weather.

Weather conditions

Ships currently must register with Nordreg to gain access information on weather and ice conditions, and the great majority do. Private pleasure craft usually don't. In the past, some cruise ships also have sailed into the passage without telling the coast guard.

"These measures will send a clear message to the world," Harper said during a cold, blustery press conference held on the shores of the Beaufort Sea.

Although Canada's claim to the Northwest Passage is not generally recognised internationally, Harper said he expects foreign ships to abide by the new requirement.