Shipping Traffic Analysis and Risk Mitigation Measures for the West Coast of Haida Gwaii
The report documents analysis and research conducted for the Safe Distance Offshore / Proactive Vessel Management Pilot Project on Haida Gwaii (SDO-PVM pilot project). The project was co-led by the Council of the Haida Nation (CHN) and Transport Canada (TC), with input from other government agencies and a project committee including shipping industry representatives.
Two of the key goals of the project were to:
Determine a Safe Distance Offshore to ensure a high likelihood of effective response to prevent
vessel drift grounding accidents along the coastlines around Haida Gwaii.
Assess the feasibility and effectiveness of implementing protective measures against this possibility
and develop an associated implementation plan.
With a focus on the west coast of Haida Gwaii, Nuka Research analyzed commercial ship traffic and researched potential voluntary risk mitigation measures. The traffic analysis and research were implemented to answer questions developed by the Technical Working Group (CHN and TC) and informed by the project committee. Results of the analysis were discussed in project committee meetings.
The report considers three potential distances for voluntary offshore routing: 25, 50, or 75 NM. Automatic Identification System data provided by Clear Seas Centre for Responsible Marine Shipping were used for the vessel traffic analysis. In the years analyzed (2014-2016), ship transits within 75 NM of southern Haida Gwaii were primarily cruise ships and cargo ships voyaging to Alaska.
A voluntary routing measure that suggested ships stay 25 NM off the west coast of Haida Gwaii would align with the Pacific States-BC Oil Spill Task Force (2002) recommendation for vessels of 300 GT or larger. This measure would affect 38 vessels making 322 transits (based on 2016 data), primarily cargo and cruise ships going to and from Alaska. Adjusting to follow this route could add approximately 8 NM to a typical route going to Southeast Alaska and 1 NM to a typical route to Cook Inlet, Alaska (which includes the Port of Anchorage).
A voluntary routing measure that asked ships to stay 50 NM off the west coast of Haida Gwaii would align with the "higher risk" area identified by the Pacific States-BC Oil Spill Task Force (2002). It would affect approximately 563 transits by 73 ships (based on 2016 data), still primarily in the Alaska trade but with some Great Circle Route voyages and voyages to Northern BC ports affected as well. For vessels going to Southeast Alaska, staying outside Haida Gwaii would still be shorter than a route through Hecate Strait. Approximately 32 NM would be added to a typical voyage to or from Southeast Alaska, and 4 NM to a voyage to or from Cook Inlet, Alaska.
A voluntary routing measure that asked ships to stay 75 NM off the west coast of Haida Gwaii would keep them well outside the higher risk area identified by the Pacific States-BC Oil Spill Task Force (2002) and align with a previous recommendation for transiting laden tankers. It would affect approximately 620 transits by 106 ships (based on 2016 data), including 71 vessels on the Great Circle Route. At this point, it would be more than 20 NM shorter for vessels going to or from Southeast Alaska to travel through Hecate Strait instead of staying that far off the west coast to Haida Gwaii.
Tankers and most vessels traveling the Great Circle Route between North America and Asia would not be affected by any of the three distances considered.
At least three options were identified for implementation of a voluntary routing measure, including examples in Canada and elsewhere. These ranged from agreements with individual operators who travel the area frequently to a formal proposal to the International Maritime Organization.
