UArctic is launching a new research fellowship programme that is open to all UArctic member organisations. The programme is part of a new partnership with Lloyd's Register Foundation and supports research under the brief “maritime safety: learning from the past to address challenges to the safety of peoples in the Arctic.”
The call introduces a programme for research fellows during two academic years 2024-2026 and funds fellowship working on the challenges of maritime safety in the Arctic across three interconnected themes. The programme is supported with a total grant to UArctic of £500,000 and envisages several Fellows working both individually and collaboratively over the two academic years. Fellows will benefit from co-ordination and research collaboration facilitated by the UArctic programme management and possibility to build relationships with the UArctic Chairs and relevant Thematic Networks within applicable fields, if desired. We invite bids for up to £40,000 over the two years.
The maritime Arctic is undergoing profound changes. Climate change is reducing sea ice cover, opening up new sea routes, and affecting the distribution of commercial fisheries, as well as impacting global weather systems. We have seen a steady increase in ship traffic of all kinds across the Arctic; more fishing vessels, merchant ships, research vessels and cruise ships. This presents both opportunities and challenges for Indigenous and local communities, such as communities in Inuit Nunangat or commercial fishing communities in Iceland. It also presents new risks to the environment and to the safety of these communities as well as the people onboard ships.
The maritime Arctic is undergoing profound changes in the present, but it has also done so in the past. People have explored new Arctic routes for generations and transitioned between different means of powering ships and the infrastructures to support them. We have an opportunity to learn from the past to help us better navigate the challenges of today and to do so in a way that is equitable and inclusive. The new fellowship programme will take this opportunity and do so in a way that builds both connections and capacities for maritime research in the Arctic.
The first call for research highlights three interlinked topics:
“ice histories” and the opportunity to integrate different historic perspectives and insights into sea ice with the modern technologies and regulations that guide shipping today;
“safely navigating new Arctic Sea routes” and the opportunity to learn from experiences of opening up new sea routes in the Arctic in the past (e.g. the Northern Sea Route and the Northwest Passage);
and “cruise ships in the cold” as a specific case of new maritime traffic in the Arctic that raises not only opportunities but also safety concerns and challenges to local infrastructure and its capacity to respond to incidents.
The call invites applications from researchers and Indigenous Knowledge holders employed by UArctic member institutions. The new UArctic x Lloyd’s Register Foundation Fellows will not only receive funding for their work but can also benefit from access to the Foundation’s extensive archive of ship surveys, wreck reports and more, which can be found here. The Fellows are asked to produce an individual research paper or research outputs plus contribute to a collaborative paper with the other Fellows. The UArctic fellowship team will facilitate the collaboration and encourage collaboration with the immense UArctic member networks to support a cross-disciplinary research programme. The collaboration will include online meetings of the Fellows and the research programme manager supported by in-person meetings across the programme. The communication of research outputs through relevant channels will also be helped by the UArctic programme team and the Foundation to raise awareness and support impact of the research findings.
Knowledge sharing, interaction, and communication is necessary in order to ensure impact beyond academia. The Fellows funded under this call are asked to provide a plan for communication and the exchange of knowledge. Where appropriate, the plan should describe the processes by which research-based knowledge can feed into practice and policy in collaboration with stakeholders. Guidance on expectations for sharing of individual and collaborative outputs is given below, with applicants encouraged to explore creatively around and beyond this. Additionally:
Individual papers or outputs are to be presented at in-person international meetings, or appropriate seminars and conferences with the paper or outputs published in a relevant respected journal.
The collaborative paper or work is also to be presented at international conference/s, and preferably published in a respected journal in the field of maritime safety. This will be enabled by the UArctic Research Programme team in collaboration with the Fellows.
Theme 1: Ice histories
Ice is one of many things that makes the Arctic maritime special and different from other maritime environments. It also makes it especially dangerous and drives many of the safety challenges in the maritime economy. Ice is also an intrinsic part of Arctic ecosystems and culture. It is viewed differently by different peoples: Indigenous perspectives contrast sharply with industrial shipping operators. In Inuit culture ice can be seen as 'home' and something that allows safe passage, whilst for commercial shipping and historic explorers ice is an obstacle to be broken through or out of.
Sea ice has many forms and behaviours that change over time. Climate change is affecting these patterns and challenges the models or assessments that people use for when and where it safe to navigate. There is a long history and knowledge of ice in oral, written and digital forms – but these are not often brought together. Indigenous hunters as well as ice captains from the fishing and whaling fleets built up experience of navigating through and across the ice. There is an opportunity to research these histories and potentially to bring together the lessons of ice histories from such communities and archives with the modern-day satellite, digital observation and modelling of ice that are used by today's shipping for risk assessment and navigation.
Theme 2: Safely navigating changing Arctic Sea routes
Climate change, the needs of the energy transition and geo-political interests are driving increased traffic along new routes in and across the Arctic. Several safety challenges are posed as ships venture further north, including increased traffic in remote geographies, navigating changing ice conditions, crews who may be new to the conditions, use of non-ice-class ships, and the consequences of spills and accidents on fragile ecosystems and local communities. These challenges need to be addressed by research and policymakers and would benefit from an interdisciplinary approach which includes local voices.
This broad topic covers specific geographies and routes and specific classes of ships and risks, such as the seasonal use of the Northern Sea Route and the use of sea routes in the Arctic. Fishing routes are also changing due to climate changes and quota management implementations that affect the grounds fished, bringing vessels further north making search and rescue more. In addition, mapping, identifying and analysing different types of risks is of importance, as is historical data on accidents and incidents across the Arctic.
Theme 3: Cruise ships in the cold
Cruise ships are bringing people to the Arctic maritime in increasing numbers, increasing both traffic, size of ships and risks. Climate change, retreating sea ice and the demands of their clients means that ships venture further, sometime to see things “before they are gone”. Recent incidents provide a first glimpse of the challenges to safety and several experts point to the risk of potentially serious incidents with risk to life of those onboard due to remoteness and a mismatch of response capacity to the scale of some of the vessels.
Arctic tourism is not new, with trips already taking place in the 19th century. Cruise ships have impacts on local communities when they dock and sometimes when they interact with Indigenous hunting and fishing grounds and activities. The routes are changing as the Arctic Sea gets increased accessibility but at the same time brings on challenges of navigating them safely. The perceptions of risk for the cruise ship crew and the awareness of the fact the risks and challenges to Arctic cruise navigation are very different to those travelling in other parts of the world needs attention.
