The Northern Sea Route and the Economy of the Soviet North (1956) evaluates the commercial value of the route on the basis of a detailed study of the economy of the Soviet North. While the primary focus is on economic, strategic and material grounds, considerable attention is devoted to the non-economic motives for Soviet activity in the Arctic.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Gazprom has dominated the Russian gas industry. However, the markets in which it operates have changed dramatically, with the company increasingly being challenged at home and abroad. At this critical moment, this insightful book analyses the involvement of the Russian gas industry in the changing international gas market and the dramatic implications for Russia’s role as a global supplier of gas in the future.

The summer of 1991 marked the first time in recent history that Russia offered to escort ships of other countries across the Northern Sea Route (NSR). For moving cargo between the North Pacific region and Northern European ports, the NSR, along Russia's northern coastline, is between 35 and 60% shorter than the traditionally used routes through the Suez and Panama Canals. In addition to its shorter distance, there already exists an extensive ports and shipping infrastructure, a current cargo base, and the potential for developing new markets in Russia and other northern areas. These incentives are attracting considerable attention from the international shipping community, including that portion servicing Alaskan and northwestern U.S. ports. This report is a general compilation of the historical usage, recent trade developments, the current regulatory climate, the physical environment, the ports and navigational infrastructure, cost factors, and practical considerations that may shape future U.S. interests in the route.

Remote Sensing of Sea Ice in the Northern Sea Route: Studies and Applications initially provides a history of the Northern Sea Route as an important strategic transport route for supporting the northern regions of Russia and cargo transportation between Europe and the Northern Pacific Basin. The authors then describe sea ice conditions in the Eurasian Arctic Seas and, using microwave satellite data, provide a detailed analysis of difficult sea ice conditions. Remote sensing techniques and the basic principles of SAR image formation are described, as well as the major satellite radar systems used for ice studies in the Arctic. The authors take a good look at the use of sensing equipment in experiments, including the ICE WATCH project used for monitoring the Northern Sea Route. The possibilities of using SAR remote sensing for ice navigation in the Northern Sea Route is also detailed, analysing techniques of automatic image processing and interpretation. A study is provided of regional drifting ice, fast ice and river ice in the coastal areas of the Arctic Seas. The book concludes with a review of the practical experience using SAR images for supporting navigation and offshore industrial activity, based on a series of experiments conducted with the Murmansk Shipping Company on board nuclear icebreakers.

The lack of international conventional law governing the operational aspects of continental shelf activity may be characterized as unfinished business of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Convention, adopted in 1982, generally addressed the issue but did not consider more detailed development of the legal regime for the continental shelf. In The Regulation of Continental Shelf Development: Rethinking International Standards, leading experts from around the world identify and explore a multitude of unresolved legal concerns related to the continental shelf. The current state of continental shelf activities is explored through the following lenses: • Contemporary uses, including an overview on offshore wind energy in the EU, an analysis of the use of submarine cables under UNCLOS, and a discussion of the varied potential for mining marine materials; • Emerging challenges, such as ISA seabed mining standards, the recent ITLOS decision regarding the Bay of Bengal, and the role of the IMO in establishing safety standards for transboundary effects of oil pollution for offshore platforms; • Comparative best practices in environmental regulation; • Probabilistic risk assessment, with a thorough definition of PRA and a critical examination of continental shelf disasters; • Decommissioning offshore installations and structures, including an overview of the global regime as particularly provided in Articles 60(3) and 80 of UNCLOS; • Liability and compensation; and finally, • Unfinished business on UNCLOS III. The varied voices of experts collected within The Regulation of Continental Shelf Development: Rethinking International Standards offer a timely understanding of past, present, and future issues related to the continental shelf. The volume is a must-read for all those interested in environmental law and the law of the sea.

The European Union and the Arctic brings together academics from a range of disciplines to discuss the EU's potential roles in shaping Arctic governance. The book is divided into three parts. The first part examines the EU’s current Arctic policy framework. The second part focuses on the EU’s engagement with Arctic governance at the regional level and encompasses the EU’s engagement with the so-called Arctic Five (five coastal States of the Arctic Ocean), providing examples of some of those relationships. The third part takes a sectoral approach, analysing the EU’s potential contribution to regulation of key human activities in the Arctic, including shipping, fisheries, oil and gas operations, and marine mammals.