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Nearly 90 delegates from 17 countries and international organisations have attended the Antarctic Treaty Meeting of Experts on the Management of Ship-Borne Tourism.
The meeting, organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, ran from 9-11 December in Wellington. The meeting considered issues around ship-borne tourism in the Antarctic Treaty area to prevent a major maritime incident which would have significant humanitarian and environmental consequences.
Participants included the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO), as well as Antarctic NGOs and Antarctic tourism industry representatives.
At the conclusion of the meeting, participants expressed strong support for the development of a Mandatory Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters within the IMO. A code adopted through the IMO would ensure all tour vessels operating in the Antarctic, including those that do not belong to Antarctic Treaty Parties, would be covered by the regulations.
The meeting also encouraged Antarctic Treaty Parties to work closely with the IMO to ensure the Mandatory Code covers the full range of requirements including the construction of vessels, ship design, operation and training.
The development of the code will be vital in ensuring that vessels entering the Antarctic Treaty area and their crews are appropriately trained to operate the vessels in Antarctic conditions.
The meeting heard that an oil spill, arising from a tourist vessel accident, would likely have catastrophic consequences on the Antarctic environment. A New Zealand expert described how a single medium-sized penguin with a moderate amount of oiling would take approximately 40-80 minutes of cleaning using 1200 litres of warm, freshwater. Such facilities do not exist in Antarctica.
Antarctica’s remote location, extreme cold, and the prevalence of ice, would make the clean up of oil spills fraught with difficulty, if not impossible.
The meeting also discussed Search and Rescue planning for emergencies in Antarctica which presented formidable challenges.
The meeting agreed that Port States should proactively inspect tourist ships departing for Antarctica to ensure they meet internationally agreed standards.
The experts meeting will now report to the 33rd Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM XXXIII) in Punta Del Este, Uruguay in May 2010. The ATCM is the Antarctic Treaty’s decision making body.
