Sondre Alnes-Bonesmo
Fisherman Sondre Alnes-Bonesmo conducts five-week tours of the Arctic Ocean
The Arctic recently made headlines after Donald Trump reiterated his desire to buy Greenland. Trump has cited national security interests, but for many the territory’s vast mineral wealth is the main attraction. Yet economic development elsewhere in the vast polar region has stalled.
Working conditions in the Arctic Ocean are extremely difficult at this time of year for Norwegian fisherman Sondre Alnes-Bonesmo.
The sun rose for the last time in late October and will not reappear in the sky until mid-February.
In addition to the endless darkness, temperatures can drop below minus 40°C and storms can cause large waves.
Mr. Alnes-Bonesmo, 30, works two shifts, six hours a day, for five weeks on a ship called Granit. One of the largest factory trawlers fishing in the Arctic waters north of Norway and off the coast of Greenland, it does not stop for the winter.
Not surprisingly, it prefers the endless daylight of summer. “I like it when the weather is nice, because we’re not sent crashing into the walls, like we are during storms, when the waves can be quite big,” he smiles understatedly.
Mr. Alnes-Bonesmo is participating in the so-called “cold rush” in the Arctic.
A play on words with the gold rush that began in earnest around 2008, when a series of reports identified vast reserves of minerals and hydrocarbons in the Arctic region. Reserves that, along with important fishing stocks, could continue to become more accessible as climate change reduces ice levels.
This reduction in ice has also increasingly opened maritime routes in the Arctic, north of the Canadian continent and Russia.
So much so that over the decade from 2013 to 2023, the total annual distances traveled by ships in the Arctic Sea more than doubled, from 6.1 million to 12.9 million miles.
The longer-term hope is that cargo ships can travel from Asia to Europe and the U.S. East Coast, passing through Arctic waters above Canada and Russia.
But the question Mr. Alnes-Bonesmo now asks himself is: did he arrive too late?
Getty Images
In summer, the Arctic Ocean offers stunning views, but in the dead of winter, it’s completely dark.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, much of the planned economic development in the Arctic region came to a halt due to deteriorating relations between Russia and the West.
“Russia had big plans in the Arctic,” says Morten Mejlaender-Larsen, director of Arctic operations and technology at Norwegian company DNV. His company sets rules and standards for the maritime sector.
“They began building regional rescue centers staffed with ships and helicopters to facilitate both transport to gas, oil and coal projects in Siberia, as well as transport along the Northern Passage -East (north of Russia).
“(But) since the invasion of Ukraine, international shipping in the Northeast Passage has virtually stopped, with the exception of a few Chinese ships,” observes Mejlaender-Larsen.
He adds that Norway has also halted oil and gas exploration in the region. “It’s completely stopped,” he said.
“We do not expect any new developments in the Barents Sea, north of Bear Island.” This small Norwegian island lies about 400 km (250 miles) north of the Norwegian mainland.
Norway’s reduced ambitions in the Arctic have pleased environmentalists who have repeatedly warned of the impact of oil drilling on wildlife and the fragile environment of the polar region.
Last month, Greenpeace welcomed the Norwegian government’s decision to halt the first round of permits for deep-sea mining in the Arctic waters between the Norwegian islands of Svalbard and Jan Mayen.
Getty Images
The United States already has a number of oil wells above the Arctic Circle in Alaska.
Commentators say that although poor relations with Russia are one of the main reasons why Norway is reluctant to invest money in Arctic projects, its interest in the polar region has already cooled.
Helene Tofte, director of international cooperation and climate at the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association, believes that in hindsight the prospects for Arctic shipping were “exaggerated”.
She points out that despite the impact of climate change, the Arctic remains a difficult place to exploit. “Conditions in the Arctic can be extremely difficult, even when the absence of sea ice allows passage,” she says.
“Large parts of the route are far from emergency response capabilities, such as search and rescue and environmental cleanup resources.
“Increasing shipping in this area would require substantial investments in vessels, emergency preparedness, infrastructure and weather forecasting systems, for an unpredictable route with a short operational season. At this time, we have no indication that our members view this as commercially attractive.”
Mr Mejlaender-Larsen highlights “the belief that, thanks to global warming, there will be summers up there. That will never happen. If it’s minus 40°C and it’s 3°C Besides, it’s still not hot.”
Additionally, Professor Arild Moe of the Norwegian research group Fridtjof Nansen Institute says the entire Arctic cold snap was based on exaggerated assumptions. “The exuberance was excessive,” said the expert on oil and gas exploration in the region.
“The 2008 reports referred not to actual reserves, but to potential and highly uncertain resources, which would be risky, expensive and difficult to locate and exploit.”
The Arctic region covers an area of 5.5 million square miles (14.5 million km²)
Regarding Trump’s renewed interest in Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory, authorities in Greenland and Denmark were quick to respond that the territory was not for sale.
Professor Moe says Trump’s “rude and undiplomatic statement” shows that the United States, under Trump’s leadership, is paying attention to both the security and economic interests of the island, including its “wealthy mineral resources”.
The Danish government also responded by announcing a considerable increase in Greenland’s defense spending.
Elsewhere in the Arctic, Trump is expected to authorize increased oil and gas exploration in Alaska, particularly in the resource-rich Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
This 19 million-acre expanse is the largest wildlife refuge in the United States, and in 2020, Trump authorized drilling in part of it.
Meanwhile, Canada continues to build a deep-water port at Grays Bay on the north coast of Nunavut, its northernmost territory. Grays Bay lies approximately in the center of what is known as the Northwest Passage, the Arctic shipping route north of the Canadian continent.
Back on the fishing boat Granit, Mr Alnes-Bonesmo says that although he has made a lot of money, fishing quotas continue to be reduced in an attempt to preserve stocks in Norwegian Arctic waters.
Nevertheless, he is a philosopher. “After a few years at sea, I became more and more afraid of the Arctic Ocean, but I also came to respect and appreciate it for all its power and beauty.”
