Vessel traffic in the Bering Sea is the focus of a new resolution that passed through the Alaska House of Representatives with a vote of 33-6 on May 16.
One of the sponsors of House Joint Resolution 19 is District 40 Rep. Dean Westlake.
“In a nut shell, what we are looking at is knowing who is out there, which way they’re going, their speed,” Westlake said. “We’re trying to keep everyone in their own lane if you will.”
This new resolution is aimed at incorporating a set of Arctic Marine Safety Agreements into the U.S.’s international agreements with countries like Alaska’s coastal neighbors.
An Arctic Waterways Safety Committee will be involved in locally monitoring these agreements, Westlake said.
“What it is, is Alaska municipalities, marine mammal hunting groups, and this as well, the Arctic marine ship operators,” he said. “What they do is promote and identify safe and environmentally responsible shipping operations for us in the Arctic here.”
Earlier this year, the International Maritime Organization put a new Polar Code into effect, which regulates how international ships operate in polar waters.
If action is taken on Westlake’s resolution by the Senate and Gov. Bill Walker, then the representative says it will augment the existing Polar Code, with additional spill prevention measures for transiting vessels.
“There’s something called innocent passage, now if you’re going through and you’re not stopping at an American port, which is us, you can have your own safety standards, safety codes, ship codes, whatever you want over there or you can have the lack thereof,” Westlake said. “We want to see these safety codes in place for every ship that is going through, whether you’re stopping or not. We need that assurance that we are all on the same page when it comes to environmental responsibility.”
The future of this resolution depends on the Senate, but will not reach them until the next session in January 2018.
Regardless, Westlake is optimistic about the potential of HJR 19.
“It has passed the House; the resolution is there so our federal delegation already knows it’s in the works,” Westlake said. “That’s a good thing, we broadcast loudly with a majority of the vote that this should happen and I think with that we are going to have Senator Murkowski and Sullivan as well as Rep. Young out there going to bat and starting to push for this.”
Currently Westlake and the rest of the Alaska Legislature are in the midst of a special session, focusing on balancing the State’s budget and managing its debt.
The House convened Monday, while the Senate is scheduled to convene Wednesday morning.