Thawing Arctic seas may bring security risks

[unhappycamper]

Thawing Arctic seas may bring security risks
By David Stringer - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Jan 29, 2009 5:49:18 EST

REYKJAVIK, Iceland — NATO commanders and lawmakers from alliance nations were gathering Thursday to examine the risks posed by the thawing Arctic Circle and the prospect of standoffs among nations rushing to lay claim to the energy reserves there.

The possibility of new shipping routes through once-frozen regions threatens to complicate already delicate relations between countries with competing claims to Arctic territory — particularly as previously inaccessible areas open to exploration for their abundant reserves of oil and natural gas.

The U.S., Russia, Canada, Britain, China and several northern nations are all attempting to claim jurisdiction over Arctic territory.

Lee Willett, head of the maritime studies program at London-based military think tank the Royal United Services Institute, said that as shipping routes from the Pacific to Europe open up, warships from a host of nations are likely to follow.

“Having lots of warships, from lots of nations who have lots of competing claims on territory — that may lend itself to a rather tense situation,” Willett said. “We may see that flash points come to pass there more readily than elsewhere in the world.”


Rest of article at: http://navytimes.com/news/2009/01/ap_arctic_thaw_nato_012909/%2e