Arctic Council Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment (AMSA)

ABSTRACT The Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment (AMSA) Report, including its recommendations, was approved by the Arctic Council Ministers in April 2009 and is the culmination of four years of work completed under the leadership of the the Council's working group on Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME). The overall scope of the AMSA focuses on ships and their infrastructure needs and impacts in the Arctic Ocean. AMSA was led by three countries, Canada, Finland and the United States and included data and expertise from all the Arctic States, the Permanent Participants and the global maritime industry. The focus of the AMSA is on marine safety and marine environmental protection, which is consistent with the Arctic Council's mandates of environmental protection and sustainable development. AMSA consists of an extensive shipping activity database; nine chapters followed by findings and recommendations intended to influence policy makers and future Arctic planning. AMSA identifies 17 recommendati...