In southeast Alaska, the radio towers are remote sites at very high altitudes, because that’s a mountainous region of Alaska. The radio units are battery powered with a charge cycle system. When the battery power gets low, generators kick in to recharge the batteries. The generators are powered by propane, and they rely on solar panels and even wind turbines so they don’t go through as much propane – propane-refilling evolutions on the top of the mountains are very interesting. Service personnel have to refill by helicopter with many trips to actually get those tanks filled. On the relatively flat North Slope, the remote shelters with the radio gear have to be built above the permafrost, and the towers would have to be much taller and able to withstand icing and high winds.

“We are currently working with the Center for Islands, Maritime, and Extreme Environments Security [CIMES, a Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence], a partnership [with the] University of Hawaii, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, and a private industry partner, Intelesense Technologies, to develop technology demonstrations that integrate HF radar information, unmanned aerial vehicle sensors, and satellites to achieve some degree of Arctic MDA. We also plan to work with CIMES to understand how radar waves interact with the dielectric properties of ice, so we can get the optimal surface search radars on arctic assets, many of which are not ice-strengthened and need good ice navigation capability,” said Bert Macesker, executive director of RDC.

“From a science and technology perspective, we need a space-based maritime domain awareness system that provides everything from ice coverage and weather information, to vessel traffic information in the Arctic, with environmental information – as we saw in the Gulf of Mexico – to give us the extent of oil spills, Ostebo said. “If we had that, then we would know what’s going on offshore, and not just flying patrols or steaming around in ships to see what’s going on at sea with the eyeball. I clearly think the Arctic lends itself to a space-based or a technology solution for most of the information we need, so we can target the really high-dollar assets and limited infrastructure to address a problem that’s developing instead of gaining awareness or patrolling.”

Macesker said more information is better, but it can make things harder. “We’re doing a good job bringing in data and displaying data, but we don’t want to make things classified because the Coast Guard needs to be able to share this information with our industry and port partners.”

 

Building the Network

The Marine Exchange of Alaska (MXAK) is a nonprofit organization that collects and shares maritime information with member organizations, the state of Alaska, and the Coast Guard. Its vessel-tracking network is a major component of the Coast Guard’s MDA capability.

Real-time information about where a ship is and when it will dock is essential for shipping companies, agents, cargo brokers, pilots, and tug operators assisting vessels into port, as well as the dock crews, port captains, and harbor masters who handle the cargo after a vessel is moored. This information is also valuable to Alaska state agencies, NOAA, and the Coast Guard. It takes a robust vessel-tracking system to collect and move this information over a network that hardly exists in Alaska.

“Regulations and voluntary risk reduction measures are in place to minimize marine casualties and prevent environmental harm,” said MXAK Executive Director Capt. Ed Page. “But just as there are speed limits on highways, you need to have the ability to monitor and compel compliance with regulations. You can’t do that if you can’t see the vessels.”

The Coast Guard can also be much more effective in saving lives and responding to marine casualties if they have information on the location of mariners in distress as well as vessels in the area that may help avert a casualty. The MXAK’s AIS network, comprised of more than 95 receiving stations, provides a maritime safety net.

MXAK is continuing to build more nodes for the expansive AIS network. A typical installation has a radio antenna to receive AIS data and radio signals, and a satellite dish to provide Internet connectivity that sends the data back to its 24/7 operations center in Juneau. Solar panels, wind generators, and fuel cells help power remote units. During the long winter up north, the solar panels are useless, but that corresponds to a period where shipping stops for the season. Not all locations are “off the grid,” Page said. But they all have to be able to withstand the elements. “We have gnarly weather.”

MXAK has an operations center manned 24 hours a day. “We can set up alarms if a vessel departs from the transit lanes, is going too fast or too slow, enters restricted waters, or is doing something out of the ordinary,” Page said. “It’s a series of electronic fences we refer to as watchdogs.”

“The maritime industry, state of Alaska, and Coast Guard all have a shared commitment,” said Page. “We are all working together on providing tools and capabilities that help ensure safe, secure, efficient, and environmentally responsible maritime operations here in Alaska and the Arctic.”

 

Responding to Crisis

The Arctic has extremely limited infrastructure, and logistics are challenging. There is no location north of Nome where a large cutter can refuel or make dockside repairs. Nome can support a medium-sized cutter or a buoy tender for refueling and limited repairs. There are no Coast Guard hangars to house a C-130 Hercules or helicopter in the Arctic. “We were able to rent a substandard hangar for Arctic Shield 2012 to house two H-60 Jayhawk helicopters, but at significant cost,” said Lt. Veronica Colbath, external affairs officer for District 17. “There are limited berthing facilities in the Arctic in case we need to surge people to respond to a crisis.”