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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Jeffrey D. Adams and Gregory K. Silber 

NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-OPR-57

http://doi.org/10.7289/V5/TM-NMFS-OPR-57

U.S. Department of Commerce 

Wilbur Ross, Secretary 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

Benjamin Friedman, Acting Administrator 

National Marine Fisheries Service 

Chris Oliver, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries 

July 2017 
 

 

 

 

 

ii 

Recommended citation: 

Adams, J. and G. Silber. 2017. 2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic. U.S. Dept. of Commerce,

NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-OPR-57, 171 p. https://doi.org/10.7289/V5/TMNMFS-OPR-57

A copy of this report may be obtained from: 

Office of Protected Resources 

NOAA, NMFS, F/PR2 

1315 East-West Highway 

Silver Spring, MD 20910 

Or online at: 

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/publications/techmemos.htm 

Acknowledgements: 

We thank Kam Chin and David Phinney of the Department of Transportation’s John A. Volpe 

National Transportation Systems Center for providing Automatic Identification System data, 

and without whom this study would not have been possible. We also thank Michael Thompson 

and Thomas Moore for their review of the document and the Office of Protected Resources 

for providing the work environment to conduct this work. 

Front Cover Photo Credit: Maria Stenzel, University of California, Irvine (UCI)
iii

Table of Contents

List of Appendices ............................................................................................................................... vii

Executive Summary.............................................................................................................................. ix

Background.............................................................................................................................................1

Data Sources.......................................................................................................................................... 2

Automatic Identification System (AIS) ............................................................................................. 2

Vessel Size, Vessel Type and Vessel Flag Country ............................................................................ 3

Arctic Boundary.................................................................................................................................. 3

International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) Sea Areas ............................................................. 3

Sea Ice Extent..................................................................................................................................... 3

Data Processing.....................................................................................................................................4

Data Reporting ......................................................................................................................................6

Water Surface Area and Sea Ice Extent............................................................................................6

Vessel Activity Metrics ....................................................................................................................... 7

Transit Density.................................................................................................................................... 7

Reporting Template...........................................................................................................................8

Overview of Regional Vessel Activity in the Arctic.............................................................................12

Regional Vessel Activity Synopsis ....................................................................................................14

Regional Vessel Counts by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class........................................15

Regional Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class.......................................16

Regional Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class ................................17

Regional Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class ....................................18

Regional Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Month..............................................................19

Regional Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Month ...................................................... 20

Regional Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Month ...........................................................21

Overview of Sea Area Vessel Activity in the Arctic............................................................................ 24

Arctic Ocean Vessel Activity Synopsis............................................................................................. 26

Arctic Ocean Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class ............................... 27

Arctic Ocean Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class......................... 28

Arctic Ocean Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class............................. 29

Arctic Ocean Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Month ...................................................... 30
iv

Arctic Ocean Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Month ................................................ 31

Arctic Ocean Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Month ....................................................32

Baffin Bay Vessel Activity Synopsis..................................................................................................33

Baffin Bay Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class ....................................34

Baffin Bay Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class .............................35

Baffin Bay Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class .................................36

Baffin Bay Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Month ...........................................................37

Baffin Bay Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Month ....................................................38

Baffin Bay Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Month ........................................................39

Barents Sea Vessel Activity Synopsis.............................................................................................. 40

Barents Sea Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class ................................. 41

Barents Sea Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class...........................42

Barents Sea Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class...............................43

Barents Sea Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Month ....................................................... 44

Barents Sea Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Month..................................................45

Barents Sea Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Month .................................................... 46

Beaufort Sea Vessel Activity Synopsis.............................................................................................47

Beaufort Sea Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class .............................. 48

Beaufort Sea Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class........................ 49

Beaufort Sea Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class............................ 50

Beaufort Sea Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Month ...................................................... 51

Beaufort Sea Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Month................................................52

Beaufort Sea Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Month....................................................53

Bering Sea Vessel Activity Synopsis.................................................................................................54

Bering Sea Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class ...................................55

Bering Sea Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class............................ 56

Bering Sea Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class.................................57

Bering Sea Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Month ......................................................... 58

Bering Sea Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Month................................................... 59

Bering Sea Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Month....................................................... 60

Chukchi Sea Vessel Activity Synopsis...............................................................................................61

Chukchi Sea Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class .................................62
v

Chukchi Sea Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class..........................63

Chukchi Sea Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class..............................64

Chukchi Sea Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Month .......................................................65

Chukchi Sea Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Month.................................................66

Chukchi Sea Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Month..................................................... 67

Davis Strait Vessel Activity Synopsis ...............................................................................................68

Davis Strait Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class..................................69

Davis Strait Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class ........................... 70

Davis Strait Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class ................................71

Davis Strait Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Month......................................................... 72

Davis Strait Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Month.................................................. 73

Davis Strait Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Month...................................................... 74

East Siberian Sea Vessel Activity Synopsis...................................................................................... 75

East Siberian Sea Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class ........................ 76

East Siberian Sea Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class.................. 77

East Siberian Sea Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class...................... 78

East Siberian Sea Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Month ............................................... 79

East Siberian Sea Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Month ........................................80

East Siberian Sea Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Month .............................................81

Greenland Sea Vessel Activity Synopsis.......................................................................................... 82

Greenland Sea Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class ............................83

Greenland Sea Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class......................84

Greenland Sea Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class..........................85

Greenland Sea Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Month ...................................................86

Greenland Sea Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Month............................................. 87

Greenland Sea Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Month.................................................88

Kara Sea Vessel Activity Synopsis....................................................................................................89

Kara Sea Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class ......................................90

Kara Sea Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class ................................91

Kara Sea Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class ................................... 92

Kara Sea Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Month.............................................................93

Kara Sea Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Month ......................................................94
vi

Kara Sea Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Month.......................................................... 95

Laptev Sea Vessel Activity Synopsis ............................................................................................... 96

Laptev Sea Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class...................................97

Laptev Sea Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class ........................... 98

Laptev Sea Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class ............................... 99

Laptev Sea Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Month........................................................100

Laptev Sea Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Month..................................................101

Laptev Sea Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Month..................................................... 102

Northwestern Passages Vessel Activity Synopsis.........................................................................103

Northwestern Passages Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class ...........104

Northwestern Passages Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class.....105

Northwestern Passages Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class.........106

Northwestern Passages Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Month ..................................107

Northwestern Passages Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Month............................108

Northwestern Passages Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Month................................109

Norwegian Sea Vessel Activity Synopsis ........................................................................................110

Norwegian Sea Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class........................... 111

Norwegian Sea Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class ....................112

Norwegian Sea Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class ........................113

Norwegian Sea Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Month..................................................114

Norwegian Sea Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Month...........................................115

Norwegian Sea Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Month...............................................116

White Sea Vessel Activity Synopsis.................................................................................................117

White Sea Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class ...................................118

White Sea Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class.............................119

White Sea Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class................................ 120

White Sea Transit Counts by Vessel Type Class and Month ..........................................................121

White Sea Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Month....................................................122

White Sea Transit Distance by Vessel Type Class and Month ...................................................... 123

Literature Cited .................................................................................................................................. 125

Appendices.........................................................................................................................................129
vii

List of Appendices

Appendix 1. Counts and gross tonnage statistics (average, minimum, and maximum) for  

vessels operating in the Arctic Region during 2015.................................................. 130

Appendix 2. January (left) and February (right) 2015 transits and sea ice extent in the Arctic

region.......................................................................................................................... 132

Appendix 3. March (left) and April (right) 2015 vessel transits and sea ice extent in the Arctic

region.......................................................................................................................... 133

Appendix 4. May (left) and June (right) 2015 vessel transits and sea ice extent in the Arctic

region.......................................................................................................................... 134

Appendix 5. July (left) and August (right) 2015 vessel transits and sea ice extent in the Arctic

region.......................................................................................................................... 135

Appendix 6. September (left) and October (right) 2015 vessel transits and sea ice extent in

the Arctic region......................................................................................................... 136

Appendix 7. November (left) and December (right) 2015 vessel transits and sea ice extent in

the Arctic region......................................................................................................... 137

Appendix 8. Transit density in the Arctic during 2015 for the Bulk Carrier (left) and Dry

Cargo/Passenger (right) vessel type classes............................................................. 138

Appendix 9. Transit density in the Arctic during 2015 for the Fishing (left) and Miscellaneous

(right) vessel type classes.......................................................................................... 139

Appendix 10. Transit density in the Arctic during 2015 for the Offshore (left) and Tanker (right)

vessel type classes...................................................................................................... 140

Appendix 11. Counts of vessels operating in the Arctic region by vessel type class and flag

country........................................................................................................................ 141

Appendix 12. Counts of transits in the Arctic region by vessel type class and flag country......... 144

Appendix 13. Average monthly sea ice extent in 2015 as a percentage of water surface area for

the Arctic and the different oceans and seas located within the region. The table

cells are shaded based on sea ice extent percent using the following scheme:  

0-25% (green), 26‐50% (yellow), 51‐75% (orange), and 76‐100% (red)........................ 147

Appendix 14. Unique vessel counts for the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals  

provided in bold) and gross tonnage category......................................................... 148

Appendix 15. Transit counts for the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in

bold) and gross tonnage category............................................................................. 151

Appendix 16. Operational hours in the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided

in bold) and gross tonnage category......................................................................... 154

Appendix 17. Distance travelled (nm) in the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals

provided in bold) and gross tonnage category......................................................... 157

Appendix 18. Unique vessel counts for the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals  

provided in bold) and month...................................................................................... 160
viii

Appendix 19. Transit counts for the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in

bold) and month.......................................................................................................... 163

Appendix 20. Operational hours in the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided

in bold) and month...................................................................................................... 166

Appendix 21. Distance travelled (nm) in the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals

provided in bold) and month...................................................................................... 169
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Executive Summary
 

The marine environment in the Arctic is changing rapidly. Continued expansion of the duration 

and extent of seasonal ice-free waters is projected to occur over the coming decades, resulting in 

new opportunities for the utilization of marine resources and increased availability of technically 

navigable waters. This, in turn, is projected to bring increased levels of maritime activity to the 

region. It is believed that this increased vessel activity will lead to the degradation of Arctic 

marine ecosystems, adversely impacting fish and marine mammal populations, as well as the 

region’s indigenous people. While many studies have advanced the idea of increased Arctic 

vessel activity and the potential impacts, little to no effort has been undertaken to provide a 

comprehensive baseline of vessel operations in the region to monitor trends. 

In an effort to establish a baseline for maritime operations for Arctic waters, we analyzed 

satellite Automatic Identification System (AIS) data from 1 January 2015 through 31 December 

2015. We quantified vessel activities using a set of metrics that includes the number of vessels, 

number of transits, distance traveled, hours of operation and transit density. These vessel 

activity metrics are presented for the Arctic as a whole and for the different oceans and seas 

located within the region using an objective, standardized reporting template. This template 

provides a detailed accounting of the magnitude, spatial distribution, and seasonal aspects of 

vessel activities within the region that can be used to monitor trends as AIS data for subsequent 

years becomes available. We also provide a relatively detailed description of our AIS analysis 

methodology to facilitate the comparison of the information presented herein to results from 

similar studies examining vessel operations in the region. 

Our analysis of the AIS data resulted in the identification of 116,317 trips made by 5,437 individual 

vessels. Vessel activity metrics for these transits were calculated, parsed by vessel type and size, 

and presented on annual and monthly bases for the Arctic as a whole, as well as the following 

oceans and seas in the region: the Arctic Ocean, Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Bering 

Sea, Chukchi Sea, Davis Strait, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, 

Northwestern Passages, Norwegian Sea, and White Sea. We calculated vessel transit density 

surfaces to both visualize and quantify the degree to which surface waters in the Arctic marine 

environment had been exposed to vessel traffic in 2015. In addition, we analyzed and presented 

monthly sea ice extent data to highlight the relationship between seasonal ice extent and the 

observed vessel traffic. 

Density analysis indicated that approximately 63% of the Arctic marine environment had been 

exposed to vessel traffic during 2015. For the Arctic as a whole, transits counts averaged 

10,057/month, with counts ranging from a low of 6,787 in December to 13,671 in July. Nearly half 

(n=51,093) of the transits were made by the 1,257 fishing vessels operating in the region. The Bulk 

Carrier vessel type class had one of the highest counts of unique vessels (n=1,595) operating in 

the Arctic during 2015, however, these vessels only accounted for less than 5% of the total 

transits logged in the region. While Bulk Carrier transits were relatively few in number, the 

distances associated with Bulk Carrier transits were some of the longest, averaging 568 nautical 

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miles (nm). Density analysis further revealed that traffic associated with vessels in the Bulk 

Carrier and Dry Cargo/Passenger vessel type classes was concentrated into a limited set of wellused routes, while fishing vessels displayed a much more diffuse pattern of activity. 

The sea areas with the highest levels of vessel activity for 2015 were the Barents, Bering, and 

Norwegian Seas. Of the 14 oceans and seas examined, the Norwegian Sea possessed the highest 

transit count (n=56,952). While the majority of the transits in the Norwegian Sea belonged to 

fishing vessels (n=29,712), vessels in the Dry Cargo/Passenger vessel type class accounted for the 

highest number of operational hours (n=175,168) and distance travelled (n=3,002,488 nm) in the 

sea area. The Norwegian Sea also had the highest average (12.07 km/km2

) and maximum (581.44 

km/km2

) transit densities of the 14 sea areas examined, and over 99% of the water surface area 

had been exposed to vessel traffic during 2015. The high level of activity in the Norwegian Sea is 

most likely attributable to its year round ice-free waters, proximity to population centers, and 

active fisheries. Despite the presence of seasonal sea ice in the Barents and Bering Seas, yearround, active fisheries in these sea areas also led to high levels of activity. In fact, the Barents

Sea possessed the highest number of total operational hours (n=1,131,267), the majority of which 

(n=864,458) were logged by fishing vessels. Similarly, the Bering Sea possessed the highest total 

transit distance (n=8,106,124 nm), 39% of which was logged by fishing vessels. The Bering Sea 

also had the second highest maximum transit density (479.94 km/km2

), attributable to the 

frequent use of the North Pacific Ocean Great Circle Route by bulk carrier vessels to transport 

goods to and from major ports in the United States and Asia. 

While high levels of vessel activity were maintained throughout 2015 in some of the region’s sea 

areas, others were characterized by little to no vessel activity for the better part of 2015. For 

example, no vessel activity was observed in the Beaufort Sea for 7 of the 12 months in 2015. This 

is most likely due to the remote location of the sea area and the fact that over 75% of the water 

surface area of the Beaufort Sea was covered by ice for nine of the 12 months in 2015. In total, 

only 483 transits were observed in the Beaufort Sea during 2015. Similar low levels of activity 

were observed in the Arctic Ocean, East Siberian Sea and the Northwestern Passages, where 

extensive ice coverage was also present for the majority of 2015. At 22.3 and 37.2%, the surface 

waters of the Arctic Ocean and the Northwestern Passages had the lowest exposure to vessel 

traffic in 2015. 

The above observations, as well as those found in the text that follows, highlight a few of the 

many conclusions that can be drawn from the vessel activity data presented herein. We provide 

these observations merely to guide the reader in the interpretation of the content and utility of 

the data. Again, the overarching goal of this work is to provide a baseline of vessel activity in the 

Arctic to monitor trends as the marine environment of the region becomes more hospitable to 

vessel operations. To this end, we have provided a comprehensive, objective one-year snapshot 

of current levels and locations of vessel activity. 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Background 

The climate in the Arctic is changing rapidly. Surface air temperature in the region is increasing at 

double the rate of the global average and, amid other observations of warming trends, the 

lowest recorded Arctic sea ice extent occurred in September 2012 (USCG 2016a), the September 

2015 Arctic sea ice minimum was the fourth lowest value in satellite records (1979-2015), and a 

new record low for winter sea ice extent occurred January 2016 (Richter-Menge et al. 2016). The 

rapidly warming climate and resulting reductions in sea ice extent and volume are expected to 

bring about changes in both the quantity and character of maritime activity in the region. 

As the temporal duration and spatial extent of seasonal ice-free water increases, so too will the 

navigation season and the economic feasibility of the intercontinental commercial transport of 

goods, services, and people (Khon et al. 2010; Smith and Stephenson, 2013; Zheng et al., 2016) 

along historically inaccessible trade routes, such as the Northwest Passage (Guy, E. 2006; 

Buixadé Farré, et al., 2014) and Russia’s Northern Sea Route (Liu and Kronbak, 2010; Stephenson 

et al., 2014). The availability of these trans-Arctic routes as economically viable alternatives is 

forecasted to occur during this century (Stroeve, et al., 2012; Melia et al. 2016); however, the 

predicted timing has ranged from within a few decades (Holland et al., 2006; Overland and 

Wang, 2013), to mid-century, (Smith and Stephenson, 2013), to as late as 2100 (Boé et al., 2009, 

Melia et al. 2016). The extension of the navigation season and opening of trans-Arctic passages 

will bring increased opportunities for the utilization of marine resources and increased marine 

vessel activity to the region. One assessment predicts a 100-500 percent increase in number of 

trips and ship transit distances in some Arctic areas by 2025 relative to 2015 levels (US CMTS 

2015). 

Impacts to the Arctic’s marine environment and ecosystems are likely to occur as the types and 

quantity of marine vessel activity increase (Arctic Council, 2009; IMO, 2015). Increases in 

international vessel activity via trans-Arctic passages will introduce non-native species from hull 

fouling and ballast water discharge (Miller and Ruiz, 2014). Increases in both local and 

international vessel activity will generate increases in underwater noise (Finley et al., 1990). The 

likelihood of ship strikes, one of the primary threats to marine mammals, is expected to escalate 

as vessel activity increases in the region (Laist et al., 2001; Neilson, et al., 2014). These and other 

changes to the marine environment are expected to adversely impact the region’s fish and 

marine mammal populations (Simpkins, et al. 2009; Reeves et al., 2014). Likewise, adverse 

impacts are also expected for the indigenous people of the Arctic that rely on the region’s 

healthy marine ecosystems (Robards, 2013; Huntington et al., 2015 USCG, 2015b). 

Assumptions about increasing vessel activity and associated threats to marine ecosystems are 

reasonable, however, little work has been done to quantify this growth (Smith and Stephenson, 

2013; Eguíluz et al., 2016). Before increases in activity can be measured, it is first necessary to 

establish a baseline of vessel activity for the region. We used 2015 satellite Automatic 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Identification System (AIS) data to quantify vessel activity in the Arctic. With considerable 

specificity, we provide information on the quantity, spatial distribution, and seasonal variability 

of the activity. Because different AIS analysis techniques can potentially lead to significantly 

different outcomes, we provide a detailed description of our data analysis techniques to 

facilitate comparisons between our findings and those of similar efforts to examine vessel 

activity in the region. To help monitor trends as new vessel activity data becomes available, we 

present our results using an objective, standardized reporting template. 

Data Sources 

Automatic Identification System (AIS) 

Automatic Identification System (AIS) is a maritime safety technology in which vessels broadcast 

messages containing information about their identity, position, speed and direction of travel 

using low power, very high frequency (VHF) radio signals (Tetrault, 2005, Robards, et al. 2016). 

These messages are broadcast every 2-10 seconds and are used by nearby vessels to avoid at-sea 

collisions. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) requires AIS capabilities on all 300+ 

gross tonnage (GT) vessels making international voyages and all 150+ GT vessels when carrying 12 

or more passengers on an international voyage. The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) expanded the IMO 

mandate by requiring the use of AIS for vessels operating in U.S. waters that meet the following 

criteria: self-propelled vessels 65+ feet in length engaging in commercial service, towing vessels 

26+ feet with more than 600 horsepower (HP) engaged in commercial service, and self-propelled 

vessels certified to carry more than 150 passengers (33 C.F.R. § 164.46). 

Though initially conceived as a collision-avoidance technology, AIS data has been used for a 

variety of other maritime safety, environmental protection, and conservation applications 

(Robards, et al. 2016). Some examples include search-and-rescue operations, piracy monitoring, 

vessel routing analyses, and maritime regulatory compliance. AIS data used in these types of 

applications are typically collected by land-based receivers. In the US, the USCG has established a 

national network of approximately 200 land-based receivers located along the coast of the 

continental United States, as well as the inland rivers, Alaska, Hawaii and Guam. Land-based 

networks can collect and process large volumes of AIS data, however, coverage is limited to 

near-shore transmissions. More recently, a handful of companies like exactEarth® and 

ORBCOMMTM have established constellations of low-orbiting microsatellites, capable of receiving 

AIS transmissions from anywhere on the globe. Though satellite AIS systems currently struggle 

to process the totality of AIS transmissions within their range, they do collect and process 

enough AIS messages to provide a dataset suitable for most vessel movement applications. 

To characterize vessel activity in the Arctic region, we used 2015 global exactEarth® satellite AIS 

data (copyrighted material of exactEarth Ltd. All Rights Reserved). The Transview (TV32) 

software application, developed by the Department of Transportation’s VOLPE Data Center, was 

used to decode raw, monthly, global AIS data into comma separated value (CSV) files. The 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

decoded AIS data written to the CSV files by TV32 included the following information: Maritime 

Mobile Service Identity (MMSI), IMO ship identification number, vessel name, radio callsign, 

vessel type, speed over ground (SOG), heading, and course over ground (COG). TV32 also 

appends a timestamp to each record indicating when the AIS message was broadcast. The 

monthly CSV files were imported into a spatially-enabled PostgreSQL/PostGIS database. 

Vessel Size, Vessel Type and Vessel Flag Country 

The vessel type information coded directly into AIS messages is limited to a small set of broad 

vessel categories manually entered by vessel crews. Previous analyses of AIS data have indicated 

that vessel type information, like other manually-entered vessel identification information, is 

subject to varying degrees of data entry error. In an effort to reduce the impact of these entry 

errors and to include more detailed vessel type and vessel size (gross tonnage) information in 

our analyses, we used a third-party, enhanced vessel database (IHS Markit, 2015). Vessel type, 

gross tonnage and country of origin (flag country) data from the enhanced vessel database were 

imported into the spatially-enabled PostgreSQL/PostGIS database and linked to the AIS records 

using a combination of the following vessel identifiers: IMO number, MMSI, and vessel name. If 

vessel information in the AIS record could not be matched to a record in the enhanced vessel 

database, data belonging to the vessel were not included in the analysis. 

Arctic Boundary 

For the purposes of this study, we adopted the Arctic boundary defined in Arctic Research and 

Policy Act (ARPA) of 1984 (amended 1990) that includes “...all United States and foreign territory 

north of the Arctic Circle and all United States territory north and west of the boundary formed 

by the Porcupine, Yukon, and Kuskokwim Rivers; all contiguous seas, including the Arctic Ocean 

and the Beaufort, Bering and Chukchi Seas; and the Aleutian chain” (Farrell et al., 2009). Spatial 

data representing the Arctic region boundary was downloaded from ArcGIS Online and imported 

into the spatially-enabled PostgreSQL/PostGIS database. 

International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) Sea Areas 

To examine the spatial distribution of vessel activity within the Arctic, we partitioned the region 

using the spatial boundaries of the world’s oceans and seas as defined in the International 

Hydrographic Organization (IHO) Sea Areas data set (VLIZ, 2005). The spatial data depicting 

these boundaries were downloaded from the MarineRegions.org website and imported into the 

spatially-enabled PostgreSQL/PostGIS database. 

Sea Ice Extent 

To examine the relationship between vessel activity and the seasonal accumulation and retreat 

of sea ice in the study area, we used 2015 sea ice extent data produced by the National Snow and 

Ice Data Center (Fetterer et al., 2002). Monthly sea ice extent shapefiles depicting average 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

monthly sea ice coverage were downloaded and imported into the spatially-enabled 

PostgreSQL/PostGIS database. 

Data Processing 

Global satellite AIS data were overlaid with the Arctic region boundary (pg. 10) to extract vessel 

operation data for our study area. For the full calendar year of 2015, a total of 127,045,233 

satellite AIS records were located within the Arctic boundary. Often, vessels continue to transmit 

AIS signals when anchored or otherwise not in service. Because we were interested in reporting 

data for vessels actively engaged in travel, we filtered the data to include only those records with 

SOG values of 2 knots (kt) or greater. Likewise, AIS records with SOG values greater than 50 kt 

were considered suspect and were removed. Filtering the 127,045,233 satellite AIS records based 

on these lower and upper SOG limits reduced the total number of 2015 satellite AIS records 

within the Arctic boundary to 80,394,498. 

AIS records for individual vessels were grouped and sorted in ascending order based on their 

timestamp and then aggregated into transits (i.e., individual trips made by vessels) by examining 

the time elapsed between successive records. If time elapsed between successive AIS records for 

a given vessel was less than 4 hours, they were aggregated into the same transit. If the time 

elapsed between successive records was 4 hours or more, a new transit was started for the 

vessel. Because vessel transits formed from a minimal amount of AIS data often represent partial 

transits and can lead to spatially inaccurate representations of vessel activity, especially when 

the time elapsed between successive records is substantial, any data belonging to transits with 

less than 5 AIS records were removed. With the transit minimum record count criteria applied, 

the total number of AIS records was reduced to 80,217,947. 

Data within the transit groupings containing five or more AIS records were then analyzed to 

identify and remove any records that exhibited potential timestamp and/or position errors. While 

the relative proportion of AIS records containing spatial and/or temporal errors is very small, the 

inclusion of these erroneous records can have an impact on the computation of vessel activity 

metrics such as operational hours or distance travelled. Each AIS record contains a speed, 

position and timestamp. As such, it is possible to assess the spatial and temporal integrity of a 

given record using temporally adjacent AIS records logged by the same vessel. For example, if 

the spatially-computed distance (geodesic distance between the two point locations) differs 

significantly from the distance calculated by multiplying the speed by the time elapsed between 

the two records (speed-time distance), one of the AIS records contains either faulty position, 

speed or timestamp data. Meteorological conditions, ocean currents and the character of the 

travel between successive AIS point locations can impact the correspondence of their computed 

geographic and speed-time distances, especially when the time elapsed between the two AIS 

records is large. As such, we took a somewhat conservative approach and only flagged records 

as suspect when their computed geographic and speed-time distances differed by more than 5 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

nm. When successive AIS point locations were flagged, distance-based computational checks for 

the two records were made using other temporally adjacent AIS records in the vessel transit 

grouping to identify which of the two AIS records contained the suspect position, speed or 

timestamp data. Once identified, AIS records containing suspect position, speed or timestamp 

data were removed. Of the 80,217,947 AIS records examined for potential errors, 96,951 (0.1%) 

from 6,085 different transit groupings were identified as suspect and were removed. The 6,085 

transit groupings were again checked to determine if they met the minimum transit record count 

constraint. 136 of the 6,085 transit groupings did not meet the minimum transit record count 

criteria after the removal of suspect records. The 395 records associated with these transit 

groupings were removed. 

The remaining 80,120,601 records in the different transit groupings were then joined to create 

194,909 linear features representing vessel transits. In addition to the minimum transit record 

count constraint described above, we also imposed a five nm minimum transit length constraint 

to minimize the impact of partial transit features on reported vessel activity aggregates such as 

transit length and operational hours. 33,156 of the 194,909 total transits were found to have 

lengths less than 5 nm and were removed. 

Because we were interested in aggregating vessel activity by sea area and month, it was 

necessary to segment transits whose spatial extent stretched across multiple sea areas and 

whose temporal extent stretched across multiple months. To segment the transits by sea area, 

we first clipped the IHO sea area data using the Arctic boundary data. We then intersected the 

transits with the clipped sea area polygons to segment the transits. During the intersect analysis, 

1,698 of the 161,753 transits were found to be located completely outside of the water features 

contained in the clipped sea areas and were removed. Transits whose temporal extent stretched 

across multiple months were split at the temporal boundary between the different months using 

interpolation. 

Using the AIS vessel information manually entered by the vessel crew, we attempted to link the 

enhanced vessel database to our 160,055 remaining transits. Of the 160,055 transits, 117,860 

(73.6%) were successfully linked, providing vessel size (gross tonnage), vessel type and flag 

country data for 5,530 unique vessels. Because we were interested in activity associated with 

seagoing vessels, we filtered our linked 117,860 transits further, removing 472 transits associated 

with 44 vessels identified in the enhanced vessel database as non-propelled, non-seagoing 

merchant ships, and non-ship structures. 

Lastly, while the clipped sea areas data contained features representing the North Atlantic 

Ocean, Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Alaska, the polygons associated with these bodies of water 

were insignificant in size due to their proximity to the outer boundary of the Arctic. Because the 

polygons represented such a small portion of their respective bodies of water and the Arctic 

region as a whole, transits located exclusively in these areas were removed from the reporting. 

Additionally, there was only a single transit (8.7 nm in length) located in the Lincoln Sea. As such, 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

this transit and the Lincoln Sea itself were omitted from the reporting. In total, 116,317 transits by 

5437 unique vessels were included in the final reporting of vessel activity for the Arctic region. 

Data Reporting 

To establish a baseline of vessel activity for the Arctic as a whole as well as the different sea 

areas located within the region, we provide a synoptic accounting of the following physiographic 

and vessel activity components: water surface area, sea ice extent, transit density, and a set of 

vessel activity metrics that includes unique vessel counts, transit counts, operational hours, and 

transit distance. As was mentioned in the previous section, the single transit located within the 

Lincoln Sea is omitted from our reporting. Likewise, data for those portions of transits located in 

the northern reaches of the North Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Alaska that extend 

inside the southern boundary of the region were omitted. The sea areas contained in our 

reporting include the Arctic Ocean, Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Bering Sea, Chukchi 

Sea, Davis Strait, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, Northwestern Passages, 

Norwegian Sea, and White Sea (pg. 21). The following sections describe the different 

physiographic and vessel activity components reported, as well as the template used to present 

the information. 

Water Surface Area and Sea Ice Extent 

We computed water surface area for the Arctic as a whole and for the different sea areas using a 

5 x 5 kilometer (km) raster grid created from the clipped sea areas dataset. While calculating 

areas from the 5x5 km grid produces less accurate estimates of area than can be calculated 

directly from the polygon features in the clipped sea areas dataset, we wanted to ensure that 

calculations of water surface area were compatible with area values generated in the transit 

density analyses (described below). Consequently, the water surface areas included in the 

reporting should be considered rough approximations. While vessel activity is not reported for 

the Lincoln Sea and the portions of North Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Alaska that 

stretch into the southern boundary of the region, these sea areas are included in the calculation 

of water surface area for the Arctic as a whole. Lastly, the reported water surface area estimates 

for the different sea areas only account for those portions of the oceans and seas that are 

located within the Arctic boundary (i.e. portions of the sea areas that extend outside of the 

Arctic boundary as defined by the ARPA are not included in the water surface area estimates). 

Areas for the monthly sea ice extent were also calculated for the Arctic as a whole and for the 

different sea areas. For consistency and compatibility purposes, sea ice extent areas were also 

computed using a 5 x 5 kilometer (km) grid created from the 2015 monthly sea ice extent 

polygon features, and should be considered rough estimates. Monthly sea ice extents are 

reported as percentages of total water surface area and can be found in Appendix 13, as well as 

summarized in the one-page synopses described in the Reporting Template section. 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Vessel Activity Metrics 

Vessel activity metrics reported for the Arctic as a whole and the different seas areas listed above 

include the number of unique vessels, number of transits, number of operational hours, and the 

distance (nm) travelled. For most of the reporting, vessel activity metrics are aggregated by 

vessel type class and/or vessel size class. Vessel type classes used in the reporting include Bulk 

Carriers, Dry Cargo/Passenger, Fishing, Miscellaneous, Offshore and Tankers. Appendix 1 contains 

a listing of the individual vessel types included in each of the six different vessel type classes. 

Vessel activity metrics aggregated by individual vessel type are also provided for the Arctic 

region in Appendices 14-21. Vessel size classes used in the reporting are based on gross tonnage 

(GT), which is a measure of a vessel’s total internal volume (1 GT = 100 ft3 ≈ 2.83 m3

). Vessel size 

classes included <1000 GT, 1000-4999 GT, 5000-9999 GT, 10000-24999 GT, 50000-99999 GT, and 

≥100000 GT. Appendix 1 also contains the average, minimum and maximum GT associated with 

the different vessel types operating in the Arctic during 2015. 

Transit Density

Spatial density analyses produce gridded surfaces containing cell values representing the 

concentration of features. To identify areas of high (and low) traffic density within the Arctic 

region, we conducted density analyses using the linear vessel transit features. The analyses were 

conducted using the Line Density tool in ArcGIS for Desktop, with a search radius of 10 km and an 

output cell size of 5 km. For the reporting contained herein, we generated a density surface using 

the transits from all vessels, as well as density surfaces for transits belonging to the different 

vessel type classes (i.e., Bulk Carrier, Dry Cargo/Passenger, Fishing, Miscellaneous, Offshore, and 

Tankers). The cell values in the density surfaces represent the km of vessel transit distance 

travelled in 2015 per square km of water surface area (km/km2

). 

Individual density values can be difficult to conceptualize, so the interpretation of density 

analysis output typically relies on the visual inspection of the density surface, symbolized with a 

color ramp that highlights areas of low and high density. Appendices 8-10 contain maps depicting 

the density surfaces created using 2015 transits belonging to the different vessel type classes. 

Visual inspection of these surfaces reveal the different spatial-use patterns associated with the 

different vessel types. In the density surfaces provided in Appendices 8-10, grid cells with the 

highest density values (areas that experienced higher concentrations of traffic during 2015) are 

colored red. Grid cells with density values of 0, which indicated that no 2015 transits could be 

located within the 10 km (search radius), are colored white. 

Because the visual inspection of density surfaces is somewhat subjective and we wanted to 

monitor trends in vessel activity, we also computed density summary statistics from the density 

analysis surface generated using the transits from all vessels (n= 116,317 transits). The computed 

summary statistics included the average and maximum density values (using non-zero density 

values only), as well as the percent of the total water surface area with non-zero density values. 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

We refer to the latter as the percent of water surface area exposed to vessel traffic. These 

density statistics are provided for the region as a whole, as well as the different sea areas. 

Reporting Template 

In addition to establishing a baseline of vessel activity in the Arctic, we were also interested 

developing analytic and reporting procedures that would facilitate the monitoring of trends as 

new data becomes available. To this end, we designed an objective, repeatable template to 

characterize and report the physiographic and vessel activity metrics described above. This 

template consists of the following three components: a one-page synopsis, a series of annotated 

bar charts, and a collection of appendices. 

One-page Synopses: 

The one-page synopses present high-level information on water surface area, sea ice extent, 

transit density, and the vessel activity metrics. The majority of the vessel activity information 

presented in the synopses is aggregated by vessel type and size classes, however, some data 

based on individual vessel type is included. To help compare and contrast water surface area, 

transit density and the vessel activity metrics for the 14 different sea areas, relative ranks 

accompany many of the reported values in the synopses. For example, in addition to reporting 

the total transit count for the Bering Sea (n=28,302), we also indicate that the Bering Sea had the 

second highest (2 of 14) transit count out of the different sea areas analyzed. 

Vessel Activity Bar Charts: 

The one-page synopses are followed by a series of annotated bar charts that include: Vessel 

Counts by Vessel Type and Gross Tonnage Classes (Arctic only), Transit Count by Vessel Type and 

Gross Tonnage Classes, Operational Hours by Vessel Type and Gross Tonnage Classes, Transit 

Distance by Vessel Type and Gross Tonnage Classes, Transit Count by Vessel Type Class and 

Month, Operational Hours by Vessel Type Class and Month, and Transit Distance by Vessel Type 

Class and Month. These charts are annotated with high-level, objective information generated 

from the chart data and associated appendices (described below). In the information provided 

above the bar charts depicting monthly vessel activity metrics for the different oceans and seas, 

we included coefficients of variation (CV) computed from the monthly metric values. CVs are 

unitless measures that indicate the degree of variability in the values being measured. Lower CVs 

indicate less variability and higher CVs indicate more variability. We used the computed CVs as a 

measure of seasonality. Sea areas with relatively consistent levels of vessel activity throughout 

the year will have low CVs for the different metrics, while those sea areas whose window of 

vessel activity is confined only to the warmer months will have higher CVs. 

Appendices: 

Counts of unique vessels by vessel flag country and the number of transits by vessel flag country 

for the Arctic region are provided in Appendices 11 and 12, respectively. In addition to the 

reporting of metrics aggregated by vessel type class (i.e., Bulk Carrier, Dry Cargo/Passenger, 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Fishing, Miscellaneous, Offshore, and Tankers) contained in the body of this report, we include 

appendices (Appendices 14-21) with the metrics aggregated by individual vessel types (e.g., 

Ore/Oil Carrier, Open Hatch Cargo Ship, Fish Farm Support Vessel, Buoy Tender, Platform Supply 

Ship, Chemical/Products Tanker, etc.). Because of space constraints, this report only provides 

appendices with vessel activity metrics aggregated by individual vessel types for the Arctic 

region. A supplementary document containing similar appendices for the different sea areas is 

located at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/publications/techmemos.htm. 

9
 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Regional Vessel Activity in the Arctic

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Overview of Regional Vessel Activity in the Arctic
 

Below, we make observations about regional vessel activity data in the Arctic during 2015. These 

observations highlight a few of the conclusions that can be drawn from the data and are not 

meant to represent a comprehensive discussion of region-wide activity. The intent is merely to 

illustrate the utility of the data and assist the reader in its interpretation. Most of the data in the 

synopsis and bar charts that follow are aggregated by vessel type class. Tables listing the 

different vessel activity metrics by individual vessel types can be found in Appendices 14-21. 

Our analyses of the satellite AIS data identified a total of 5,437 unique vessels operating within 

the Arctic region during 2015. While the majority of these vessels were in the Dry 

Cargo/Passenger vessel type class (n=1,771 vessels), the highest number of transits belonged to 

vessels in the Fishing vessel type class (n=51,093 transits). Fishing vessels, most of which belong 

to the <1000 GT (n=754) and 1000-4999 GT (n=465) vessel size classes, accounted for nearly half 

of the 116,317 transits logged in the region during 2015. On average, individual fishing vessels 

operating in the Arctic region during 2015 logged 41 different transits. This is almost twice as 

many transits logged by individual Dry Cargo/Passenger vessels, which averaged 23 transits per 

vessel. The Bulk Carriers vessel type class possessed the second highest number of unique 

vessels operating in the Arctic region during 2015 (n=1,595 vessels), however, the number of 

transits logged by vessels in the Bulk Carriers vessel type class was relatively low (n=5,006 

transits). On average, individual vessels in the Bulk Carriers vessel type class logged only 3 

transits in the region during 2015. 

Average transit distances and number of operational hours also varied among vessel type classes 

operating in the region. For example, the average transit distance and number of operational 

hours for vessels in the Offshore vessel type class were 140 nm and 20 hrs, respectively. In 

contrast, Bulk Carrier vessels had much higher average transit distance and number of 

operational hours at 568 nm and 52 hrs, respectively. Observed differences in operations are 

indicative of the ships’ primary purpose. Bulk Carriers are primarily engaged in the international 

and long distance transport of goods. Accordingly, transits associated with vessels in the Bulk 

Carrier vessel type class were longer in distance and duration while transits made by vessels in 

the Offshore type class, which were likely supporting oil exploration and related industrial 

activities. 

These differences in vessel operations are further alluded to in Appendices 2-7, which contains 

maps depicting monthly transits by the vessels in the different vessel type classes, and 

Appendices 8-10, which contains maps depicting density surfaces generated from the transits of 

vessels in the different vessel type classes. The maps indicate differences in the magnitude of the 

vessel activity associated with the different vessel type classes, as well as highlight differences in 

the temporal extent and spatial location of the activity. For example, the transits associated with 

the Bulk Carriers vessel type class are located primarily in the southern Bering Sea along the 

North Pacific Great Circle Route and directly off the coast of Norway (Appendix 8). Both the 

southern Bering Sea and the Norwegian Sea are characterized by relatively low ice coverage 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

throughout the year (Appendix 13). In both of these areas, the routes belonging to vessels in the 

Bulk Carriers vessel type class appear to be both simple and direct, a reflection of the effort to 

minimize costs associated with the maritime transport of goods. Similar patterns are observed 

for the Dry Cargo/Passenger (Appendix 8) and Tankers (Appendix 10) vessel type classes. While 

the transits logged by vessels in the Fishing vessel type class are also located primarily in the 

Bering Sea and off the coast of Norway, the density surface generated from transits by vessels in 

the Fishing vessel type class reveals a much more diffuse pattern of travel, indicative of much 

more numerous and complex routes scattered about fishing grounds found in the two areas. The 

spatial distribution of vessel activity throughout the region will be further discussed in the next 

section. 

The annotated charts characterizing the vessel activity metrics within the Arctic region by month 

(pgs. 18-20) illustrate the seasonality of vessel activity within the Arctic region. As would be 

expected, vessel activity in the region is greatest when the extent of sea ice is at its lowest. While 

this is evident in the abovementioned charts, it should be noted certain areas within the region 

experience relatively heavy ice coverage throughout the entire year while others do not. So, 

while vessel activity in the region as a whole peaks in August and September, different areas 

within the region experience much different patterns of activities throughout the year. These 

different temporal patterns are illustrated in the synopses and annotated charts of vessel activity 

for the different sea areas. 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Regional Vessel Activity Synopsis 

Surface Area and Sea Ice Extent: 

•	 15,663,725 km2 of water surface area

•	 average monthly sea ice extent ranged from 29% of the water surface area in

September to 72% in February; average monthly sea ice extent exceeded 25% of the

water surface area for 12 months, 50% for 9 months, and 75% for 0 months

Unique Vessels: 

•	 5,437 unique vessels

•	 vessel type class with the highest count of unique vessels (1,771 vessels) was Dry
 

Cargo/Passenger (see Appendix 14 for total unique vessel counts by vessel type)
 

Transit Counts: 

•	 116,317 total transits

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of transits (51,093 transits) was Fishing
 

(see Appendix 14 for total transit counts by vessel type)
 

•	 vessel size class with the highest number of transits (60,635 transits) was <1000 GT

(see Appendix 15 for total transit counts by vessel size class)

•	 transit counts averaged 10,057 transits/month, with a range of 6,787 transits in

December to 13,671 transits in July (see Appendix 19 for monthly transit counts by

vessel type)

Operational Hours: 

•	 3,752,055 total operational hours

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of operational hours (625,342 hrs) was

Fishing (see Appendix 16 for total operational hours by vessel type)
 

•	 operational hours averaged 312,671 hrs/month, with a range of 246,845 hours in

December to 400,684 hours in September (see Appendix 20 for monthly

operational hours by vessel type)

Transit Distance: 

•	 24,536,244 nm total transit distance

•	 vessel type class with the highest amount of transit distance (10,774,504 nm) was

Fishing (see Appendix 17 for total transit distance by vessel type)
 

•	 transit distance averaged 2,044,687 nm/month, with a range of 1,560,218 nm in

February to 2,659,064 nm in August (see Appendix 21 for monthly transit distance

by vessel type)

Transit Density: 

•	 63.3% of water surface area exposed to vessel traffic

•	 4.35 km/km2 average transit density

•	 581.44 km/km2 maximum transit density

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Regional Vessel Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Dry Cargo/Passenger vessel type class had the highest number of 

unique vessels (1,771 vessels) operating in the Arctic during 2015. The vessel types with 

the highest counts of unique vessels were Bulk Carrier, Container Ship (Fully Cellular), 

and General Cargo Ship with 1,555; 598; and 558 vessels, respectively (Appendix 14). Of 

the 5,437 unique vessels, the highest number (1,274 vessels) were in the 25000-49999 GT 

vessel size class (Appendix 14). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 52% 

of the total vessels. The flag countries that had the highest number of unique vessels 

operating in the Arctic during 2015 were Panama, Russia, and Norway with 754, 743, and 

639 vessels, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 1 17 5 376 987 188 21 1595 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 120 485 203 146 206 536 75 1771 

Fishing 754 465 33 4 1 0 0 1257 

Miscellaneous 200 86 31 16 2 0 0 335 

Offshore 19 60 31 9 1 1 2 123 

Tankers 7 82 28 89 77 59 14 356 

Totals: 1101 1195 331 640 1274 784 112 5437 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Regional Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Fishing vessel type class logged the highest number of transits 

(51,093 transits) in the Arctic during 2015. The vessel types with the highest number of 

transits were Fishing Vessel, Stern Trawler, and Passenger/Ro-Ro Ship (Vehicles) with 

25,564; 14,258; and 11,990 transits, respectively (Appendix 15). Of the 116,317 total 

transits, the highest number (60,635 transits) was logged by vessels in the <1000 GT 

vessel size class (Appendix 15). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 12% 

of the total transits. The flag countries that logged the highest number of transits in the 

Arctic during 2015 were Norway, Russia, and United States Of America with 49,394; 

21,008; and 17,445 transits, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 6 359 195 1565 2348 466 67 5006 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 15149 16384 4420 3167 695 1845 263 41923 

Fishing 38027 12325 673 48 20 0 0 51093 

Miscellaneous 6916 2078 983 561 21 0 0 10559 

Offshore 353 1910 681 167 11 3 8 3133 

Tankers 184 1791 383 966 761 372 146 4603 

Totals: 60635 34847 7335 6474 3856 2686 484 116317 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Regional Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Fishing vessel type class logged the highest number of operational 

hours (2,257,210 hrs) in the Arctic during 2015. The vessel types with the highest number 

of operational hours were Stern Trawler, Fishing Vessel, and Factory Stern Trawler with 

975,728; 782,538; and 346,856 hours, respectively (Appendix 16). Of the 3,752,055 total 

operational hours, the highest number (1,551,723 hrs) was logged by vessels in the <1000 

GT vessel size class (Appendix 16). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 

16% of the total operational hours. The flag countries that logged the highest number of 

operational hours in the Arctic during 2015 were Russia, Norway, and United States Of 

America with 1,137,725; 888,608; and 549,762 hours, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 111 10709 3029 84716 140551 21170 2586 262871 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 107850 299131 105801 95376 29646 80720 10954 729478 

Fishing 1300833 920398 31553 4222 203 0 0 2257210 

Miscellaneous 127987 95628 39590 32863 2483 0 0 298551 

Offshore 12088 40129 8933 2755 234 10 115 64263 

Tankers 2855 38487 13967 40190 26631 11707 5844 139681 

Totals: 1551723 1404483 202874 260121 199747 113607 19498 3752055 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Regional Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Fishing vessel type class logged the highest amount of transit 

distance (10,774,504 nm) in the Arctic during 2015. The vessel types with the highest 

amount of transit distance were Stern Trawler, Fishing Vessel, and Bulk Carrier with 

4,498,323; 3,563,198; and 2,741,683 nm, respectively (Appendix 17). Of the 24,536,244 nm 

of total transit distance, the highest amount (8,185,221 nm) was logged by vessels in the 

1000-4999 GT vessel size class (Appendix 17). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 

accounted for 28% of the total transit distance. The flag countries that logged the highest 

amount of transit distance in the Arctic during 2015 were Russia, Norway, and United 

States Of America with 6,583,989; 5,169,869; and 2,880,015 nm, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 1017 96371 35497 912388 1541667 225610 30062 2842612 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 807826 2408172 1080818 1039735 416210 1311591 178842 7243194 

Fishing 6049046 4506132 193298 24688 1339 0 0 10774504 

Miscellaneous 724553 565539 252985 255299 18308 0 0 1816684 

Offshore 70830 265314 79501 20142 1351 103 981 438222 

Tankers 22629 343693 136710 457931 282227 108594 69244 1421028 

Totals: 7675901 8185221 1778809 2710183 2261103 1645897 279129 24536244 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Regional Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit counts for the Arctic in 2015 averaged 10,057 transits/month, with a range of 6,787 

transits in December to 13,671 transits in July (see Appendix 19 for monthly transit counts 

by vessel type). 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 468 2873 4093 468 94 317 8313 

Feb 362 2568 4693 398 146 320 8487 

Mar 430 3090 5452 584 163 309 10028 

Apr 395 2911 3872 591 193 310 8272 

May 470 3541 3946 632 248 327 9164 

Jun 414 4217 5376 997 244 379 11627 

Jul 488 4829 6049 1456 341 508 13671 

Aug 532 4812 4891 1845 450 582 13112 

Sep 464 4222 4733 1867 566 550 12402 

Oct 465 3701 4386 1131 371 450 10504 

Nov 371 3053 3763 554 215 362 8318 

Dec 465 2923 2479 404 174 342 6787 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Regional Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Operational hours for the Arctic in 2015 averaged 312,671 hrs/month, with a range of 

246,845 hours in December to 400,684 hours in September (see Appendix 20 for 

monthly operational hours by vessel type). 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 24562 50907 164499 6796 1007 8633 256404 

Feb 19317 41458 172586 6786 1828 9508 251483 

Mar 22584 53845 202034 10131 2260 10366 301220 

Apr 17956 48018 159595 12984 3455 9227 251236 

May 23674 60420 176361 18991 3974 9683 293104 

Jun 19879 66642 197730 24778 4646 9978 323653 

Jul 23098 80289 202888 47100 9010 13946 376332 

Aug 22761 85820 197446 59879 10597 16985 393488 

Sep 20916 77117 214471 58343 11810 18027 400684 

Oct 25229 66604 217159 35687 8726 13770 367176 

Nov 18805 49430 197718 10739 4075 9665 290431 

Dec 24090 48927 154722 6337 2876 9893 246845 

20
 
 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Regional Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit distance for the Arctic in 2015 averaged 2,044,687 nm/month, with a range of 

1,560,218 nm in February to 2,659,064 nm in August (see Appendix 21 for monthly transit 

distance by vessel type). 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 255081 520055 764901 42095 7146 87471 1676750 

Feb 199963 397493 818832 42462 12372 89097 1560218 

Mar 235725 547293 973653 62345 16454 96516 1931987 

Apr 188184 467194 725910 81551 25704 99035 1587578 

May 263315 637471 818563 111268 32680 103713 1967010 

Jun 229044 661457 970672 153562 32155 106465 2153355 

Jul 264678 790490 1021370 295109 61812 146870 2580329 

Aug 262174 839375 970986 341290 64694 180546 2659064 

Sep 237757 760674 1040492 331336 70465 188977 2629702 

Oct 275548 672447 1040389 230441 59652 133172 2411649 

Nov 187464 473171 918119 79785 32629 93359 1784527 

Dec 243679 476073 710617 45441 22459 95807 1594075 

21
 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Sea Area Vessel Activity in the Arctic
 

23
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Overview of Sea Area Vessel Activity in the Arctic
 

While the region-wide data presented in the previous section is informative, vessel activity in the 

Arctic during 2015 was both spatially and temporally diverse. Some areas exhibited relatively high 

amounts of vessel activity across the entire year while activity in other areas was limited to only a 

few months of the year. Existing reports of vessel activity in the Arctic have either aggregated 

data across the entire region or have limited reporting to activity occurring in specific areas of 

interest (Arctic Council, 2009; Eguíluz, et al., 2016). When the reporting of vessel activity data is 

aggregated across the entire region, the spatial variability within the region is indiscernible and 

the character of the temporal variability is muted. Likewise, reporting vessel activity for a specific 

area of interest within the Arctic does not provide a full characterization of activity in the region 

as a whole or for other areas within the region. To capture the spatial and temporal variability of 

vessel activity in the Arctic, we chose to supplement our reporting of vessel activity for the entire 

region with the reporting of activity within the different sea areas (pg. 21) located in the region. 

When examining the reported vessel activity metrics for the different oceans and seas in the 

Arctic, it is important to consider their respective locations within the region. Those sea areas 

located on or near the southern boundary of the Arctic will experience lower amounts of 

seasonal sea ice coverage than those located closer to the Pole. As such, conditions necessary 

for safe, year-round navigability are more prevalent in the oceans and seas located along the 

southern boundary of the region. For example, fishing vessels accounted for nearly half of the 

116,317 transits logged in the Arctic during 2015. Of the 51,093 total fishing vessel transits logged 

in the Arctic during 2015, 46,210 (90%) were located either entirely or partially in the Barents, 

Bering and Norwegian Seas. In fact, 87% (n=101,667 transits) of all the transits in the Arctic during 

2015 were located either entirely or partially in the Barents, Bering and Norwegian Seas. While 

graphics depicting the location and density of transits in the Arctic suggest the clustering of 

activity in these regions, the reporting of the metrics for the different oceans and seas within 

the Arctic will help to better monitor and interpret vessel activity trends over time, especially for 

those areas that have typically experienced lower amounts of activity due to high, persistent 

seasonal ice coverage (Appendix 13). 

Another important consideration when comparing and contrasting vessel activity metrics for the 

different oceans and seas is water surface area. The amount of water surface area for the 

different oceans and seas in the region range from 32,675 to 5,109,900 km2

. It is important to 

consider these differences in water surface area when inferring potential impacts associated 

with current and future activity metrics. To illustrate, the amount of transit distance logged in 

the Chukchi and White Seas during 2015 were 201,155 and 211,693 nm, respectively. However, the 

water surface area of the Chukchi Sea (353,025 km2

) is ten times greater than the water surface 

area of the portion of the White Sea (32,675 km2

) located within the Arctic boundary. So, while 

the reported vessel activity metrics for these two seas are similar, the impacts associated with 

the vessel activity are most likely quite different. 

24
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

To better characterize the volume and potential impact of vessel activity within the Arctic, we 

included transit density descriptive statistics in our reporting of vessel activity. While visualizing

and interpreting the magnitude and implications of individual density statistic values associated 

with the different sea areas can be difficult, examining the relative differences in density 

statistics for the different oceans and seas is more straightforward. As an example, the average 

transit densities for the Chukchi and White Seas during 2015 were 1.1 km/km2 and 11.9 km/km2

, 

respectively. While these two values might not carry a large amount of interpretive value when 

considered individually, considered together they reveal that, on average, transit density is 

approximately ten times greater in the White Sea. This provides a more objective measure of the 

potential differences in vessel activity impacts suggested in the previous paragraph. Maximum 

transit densities were also calculated for the different oceans and seas. Not surprisingly, some of 

the highest maximum transit densities were during 2015 were observed in the Barents (253.0 

km/km2), Bering (479.9km/km2) and Norwegian (581.4 km/km2) Seas. For perspective, the lowest 

maximum density (5.1 km/km2

) was observed in Northwestern Passages, which also had one of 

the lowest average transit densities (0.4 km/km2

) of the fourteen oceans and seas examined. 

As with the overview of region-wide activity, the above observations serve as a guide for the 

types of inferences and conclusions that can be derived from the data that follows in the onepage synopses and annotated charts. Because of the year-round, high level of vessel activity 

observed in a few of the oceans and seas located within the region, the spatial and temporal 

aspects of vessel activity found in many of different sea areas get lost when the data is 

aggregated across the entire region. Those sea areas currently with higher seasonal variability in 

vessel activity due to the impact of seasonal ice extent will most likely be the areas that 

experience larger rates of increase in vessel activity as the extent and duration of sea ice 

changes. As a result, monitoring trends in the different oceans and seas As such, monitoring 

trends in the different oceans and seas is as important, if not more, as monitoring trends for the 

Arctic as a whole. Most of the data in the synopses and annotated bar charts for the different 

oceans and sea are aggregated by vessel type class. Tables listing vessel activity metrics by 

individual vessel type for the different sea areas can be found in a document containing 

supplemental appendices (please contact the lead author for availability). 

25
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Arctic Ocean Vessel Activity Synopsis

Surface Area and Sea Ice Extent: 

•	 1 of 14 for total amount of water surface area within the ARPA Arctic boundary
 

(5,109,900 km2)
 

•	 average sea ice extent ranged from 74% of the water surface area in September to

100% in March; average sea ice extent exceeded 25% of the water surface area for 12 

months, 50% for 12 months, and 75% for 11 months 

Unique Vessels: 

•	 8 of 14 for total number of unique vessels (129 vessels)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of unique vessels (48 vessels) was

Miscellaneous (see Appendix S1 for total unique vessel counts by vessel type*)
 

Transit Counts: 

•	 10 out of 14 for total number of transits (1,018 transits)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of transits (442 transits) was

Miscellaneous (see Appendix S2 for total transit counts by vessel type*)
 

•	 vessel size class with the highest number of transits (421 transits) was 1000-4999

GT (see Appendix S2 for total transit counts by vessel size class)
 

•	 transit counts averaged 88 transits/month, with a range of 5 transits in March to

326 transits in August (see Appendix S6 for monthly transit counts by vessel type*)

Operational Hours: 

•	 8 out of 14 for total operational hours (32,603 hrs)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of operational hours (5,434 hrs) was

Fishing (see Appendix S3 for total operational hours by vessel type*)
 

•	 operational hours averaged 2,717 hrs/month, with a range of 210 hours in April to

8,745 hours in September (see Appendix S7 for monthly operational hours by

vessel type*)

Transit Distance: 

•	 10 out of 14 for total transit distance (151,395 nm)

•	 vessel type class with the highest amount of transit distance (65,304 nm) was

Miscellaneous (see Appendix S4 for total transit distance by vessel type*)
 

•	 transit distance averaged 12,616 nm/month, with a range of 897 nm in March to

41,890 nm in September (see Appendix S8 for monthly transit distance by vessel

type*)

Transit Density: 

•	 14 out of 14 for percent of water surface area exposed to vessel traffic (22.3%)

•	 14 out of 14 for average transit density (0.24 km/km2

)

•	 9 out of 14 for maximum transit density (23.92 km/km2

)

*supplemental appendices located at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/publications/techmemos.htm 

26
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Arctic Ocean Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Miscellaneous vessel type class logged the highest number of 

transits (442 transits) in the Arctic Ocean during 2015. The vessel types with the highest 

number of transits were Passenger/Cruise, Research Survey Vessel, and Icebreaker with 

260, 160, and 106 transits, respectively (Appendix S2). Of the 1,018 total transits, the 

highest number (421 transits) was logged by vessels in the 1000-4999 GT vessel size class 

(Appendix S2). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 19% of the total 

transits. The flag countries that logged the highest number of transits in the Arctic Ocean 

during 2015 were United States Of America, Norway, and Russia with 161, 159, and 153 

transits, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 132 151 48 0 37 0 0 368 

Fishing 68 80 0 0 0 0 0 148 

Miscellaneous 48 143 111 0 140 0 0 442 

Offshore 0 45 0 0 6 0 0 51 

Tankers 0 2 0 3 4 0 0 9 

Totals: 248 421 159 3 187 0 0 1018 

27
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Arctic Ocean Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Fishing vessel type class logged the highest number of operational 

hours (15,209 hrs) in the Arctic Ocean during 2015. The vessel types with the highest 

number of operational hours were Stern Trawler, Research Survey Vessel, and Icebreaker 

with 12,203; 5,852; and 3,563 hours, respectively (Appendix S3). Of the 32,603 total 

operational hours, the highest number (22,175 hrs) was logged by vessels in the 1000­

4999 GT vessel size class (Appendix S3). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted 

for 13% of the total operational hours. The flag countries that logged the highest number 

of operational hours in the Arctic Ocean during 2015 were Russia, Norway, and Estonia 

with 7,978; 4,445; and 4,019 hours, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 1120 1767 471 471 0 0 0 3830 

Fishing 1942 13267 0 0 0 0 0 15209 

Miscellaneous 250 5942 2268 3809 0 0 0 12269 

Offshore 0 1188 0 26 0 0 0 1214 

Tankers 0 11 0 57 13 0 0 81 

Totals: 3312 22175 2740 4363 13 0 0 32603 

28
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Arctic Ocean Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Miscellaneous vessel type class logged the highest amount of 

transit distance (65,304 nm) in the Arctic Ocean during 2015. The vessel types with the 

highest amount of transit distance were Stern Trawler, Research Survey Vessel, and 

Icebreaker with 42,646; 27,800; and 21,252 nm, respectively (Appendix S4). Of the 151,395 

nm of total transit distance, the highest amount (90,617 nm) was logged by vessels in the 

1000-4999 GT vessel size class (Appendix S4). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 

accounted for 18% of the total transit distance. The flag countries that logged the highest 

amount of transit distance in the Arctic Ocean during 2015 were Russia, Norway, and 

Estonia with 42,062; 18,925; and 13,111 nm, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 0 0 0 4315 3518 10671 6571 25075 

Fishing 0 0 0 0 0 45861 8373 54235 

Miscellaneous 0 0 0 22471 13473 28138 1223 65304 

Offshore 0 0 0 74 0 5821 0 5894 

Tankers 0 0 149 612 0 126 0 886 

Totals: 0 0 149 27471 16991 90617 16167 151395 

29
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Arctic Ocean Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit counts for the Arctic Ocean in 2015 averaged 88 transits/month, with a range of 5 

transits in March to 326 transits in August (see Appendix S6 for monthly transit counts by 

vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 1.23, the Arctic Ocean had a moderate 

amount of month-to-month transit count variability in 2015 relative to the 14 other world 

seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 0 17 9 0 0 26 

Feb 0 0 7 7 0 0 14 

Mar 0 0 2 3 0 0 5 

Apr 0 0 0 18 0 0 18 

May 0 15 0 5 0 0 20 

Jun 0 69 10 27 0 0 106 

Jul 0 116 17 40 16 4 193 

Aug 0 130 21 157 16 2 326 

Sep 0 46 36 151 13 3 249 

Oct 0 0 20 38 8 0 66 

Nov 0 0 17 1 0 0 18 

Dec 0 0 17 0 0 0 17 

30
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Arctic Ocean Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Operational hours for the Arctic Ocean in 2015 averaged 2,717 hrs/month, with a range of 

210 hours in April to 8,745 hours in September (see Appendix S7 for monthly operational 

hours by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 1.03, the Arctic Ocean had a 

moderate amount of month-to-month operational hour variability in 2015 relative to the 

14 other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 0 2415 210 0 0 2625 

Feb 0 0 1003 158 0 0 1161 

Mar 0 0 178 63 0 0 241 

Apr 0 0 0 210 0 0 210 

May 0 153 0 74 0 0 227 

Jun 0 691 86 604 0 0 1382 

Jul 0 989 176 726 107 57 2055 

Aug 0 1557 902 3523 438 8 6428 

Sep 0 438 3038 4865 388 16 8745 

Oct 0 0 3904 1746 282 0 5932 

Nov 0 0 2154 90 0 0 2244 

Dec 0 0 1353 0 0 0 1353 

31
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Arctic Ocean Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit distance for the Arctic Ocean in 2015 averaged 12,616 nm/month, with a range of 

897 nm in March to 41,890 nm in September (see Appendix S8 for monthly transit 

distance by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 1.1, the Arctic Ocean had a 

moderate amount of month-to-month transit distance variability in 2015 relative to the 14 

other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 0 9297 1030 0 0 10327 

Feb 0 0 3641 1064 0 0 4705 

Mar 0 0 736 161 0 0 897 

Apr 0 0 0 1030 0 0 1030 

May 0 1167 0 303 0 0 1470 

Jun 0 3692 345 3437 0 0 7474 

Jul 0 5475 654 5259 408 612 12408 

Aug 0 11358 4121 18800 2480 88 36847 

Sep 0 3383 11632 24984 1703 186 41888 

Oct 0 0 12570 8924 1302 0 22796 

Nov 0 0 6808 311 0 0 7119 

Dec 0 0 4431 0 0 0 4431 

32
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Baffin Bay Vessel Activity Synopsis

Surface Area and Sea Ice Extent: 

•	 9 of 14 for total amount of water surface area within the ARPA Arctic boundary
 

(544,325 km2)
 

•	 average sea ice extent ranged from 10% of the water surface area in August to 94%

in January, February, March, April, and May; average sea ice extent exceeded 25% 

of the water surface area for 9 months, 50% for 8 months, and 75% for 7 months 

Unique Vessels: 

•	 10 of 14 for total number of unique vessels (94 vessels)

•	 vessel type class with the highest count of unique vessels (31 vessels) was Dry

Cargo/Passenger (see Appendix S9 for total unique vessel counts by vessel type*)

Transit Counts: 

•	 9 out of 14 for total number of transits (1,234 transits)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of transits (618 transits) was Dry
 

Cargo/Passenger (see Appendix S10 for total transit counts by vessel type*)
 

•	 vessel size class with the highest number of transits (573 transits) was 1000-4999

GT (see Appendix S10 for total transit counts by vessel size class)

•	 transit counts averaged 106 transits/month, with a range of 0 transits in February

and March to 342 transits in August (see Appendix S14 for monthly transit counts

by vessel type*)

Operational Hours: 

•	 9 out of 14 for total operational hours (28,056 hrs)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of operational hours (4,676 hrs) was

Fishing (see Appendix S11 for total operational hours by vessel type*)
 

•	 operational hours averaged 2,338 hrs/month, with a range of 0 hours in February

and March to 6,627 hours in August (see Appendix S15 for monthly operational

hours by vessel type*)

Transit Distance: 

•	 9 out of 14 for total transit distance (175,600 nm)

•	 vessel type class with the highest amount of transit distance (73,882 nm) was Dry

Cargo/Passenger (see Appendix S12 for total transit distance by vessel type*)

•	 transit distance averaged 14,633 nm/month, with a range of 0 nm in February and

March to 50,184 nm in August (see Appendix S16 for monthly transit distance by

vessel type*)

Transit Density: 

•	 8 out of 14 for percent of water surface area exposed to vessel traffic (80.5%)

•	 9 out of 14 for average transit density (0.71 km/km2

)

•	 10 out of 14 for maximum transit density (19.22 km/km2

)

*supplemental appendices located at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/publications/techmemos.htm 

33
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Baffin Bay Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Dry Cargo/Passenger vessel type class logged the highest number of 

transits (618 transits) in Baffin Bay during 2015. The vessel types with the highest number 

of transits were Passenger/Cruise, General Cargo Ship, and Stern Trawler with 207, 183, 

and 167 transits, respectively (Appendix S10). Of the 1,234 total transits, the highest 

number (573 transits) was logged by vessels in the 1000-4999 GT vessel size class 

(Appendix S10). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 9% of the total 

transits. The flag countries that logged the highest number of transits in the Baffin Bay 

during 2015 were Denmark, Denmark (Dis), and St Kitts & Nevis with 305, 257, and 163 

transits, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 0 27 0 0 0 27 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 119 346 86 4 63 0 0 618 

Fishing 247 130 0 0 0 0 0 377 

Miscellaneous 51 4 41 0 2 0 0 98 

Offshore 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 

Tankers 0 93 1 0 14 0 0 108 

Totals: 421 573 128 31 79 0 2 1234 

34
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Baffin Bay Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Fishing vessel type class logged the highest number of operational 

hours (15,046 hrs) in Baffin Bay during 2015. The vessel types with the highest number of 

operational hours were Stern Trawler, Factory Stern Trawler, and Passenger/Cruise with 

8,616; 4,833; and 3,330 hours, respectively (Appendix S11). Of the 28,056 total operational 

hours, the highest number (16,433 hrs) was logged by vessels in the 1000-4999 GT vessel 

size class (Appendix S11). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 8% of the 

total operational hours. The flag countries that logged the highest number of operational 

hours in the Baffin Bay during 2015 were Denmark, Denmark (Dis), and Canada with 

12,882; 2,903; and 2,721 hours, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 0 0 890 0 0 890 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 1368 3787 1600 965 103 0 0 7822 

Fishing 3591 11455 0 0 0 0 0 15046 

Miscellaneous 696 154 1942 59 0 0 0 2852 

Offshore 19 0 0 0 0 0 5 24 

Tankers 0 1038 22 361 0 0 0 1421 

Totals: 5675 16433 3565 1386 993 0 5 28056 

35
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Baffin Bay Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Dry Cargo/Passenger vessel type class logged the highest amount of 

transit distance (73,882 nm) in Baffin Bay during 2015. The vessel types with the highest 

amount of transit distance were Stern Trawler, Passenger/Cruise, and General Cargo Ship 

with 31,856; 31,587; and 18,137 nm, respectively (Appendix S12). Of the 175,600 nm of 

total transit distance, the highest amount (86,796 nm) was logged by vessels in the 1000­

4999 GT vessel size class (Appendix S12). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 

accounted for 16% of the total transit distance. The flag countries that logged the highest 

amount of transit distance in the Baffin Bay during 2015 were Denmark, Denmark (Dis), 

and Bahamas with 49,639; 28,671; and 22,050 nm, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 9988 0 0 0 0 9988 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 0 0 1531 12060 18529 33485 8278 73882 

Fishing 0 0 0 0 0 40984 14418 55401 

Miscellaneous 0 0 0 517 12854 1470 5715 20556 

Offshore 44 0 0 0 0 0 215 259 

Tankers 0 0 0 4387 268 10858 0 15513 

Totals: 44 0 11519 16964 31651 86796 28626 175600 

36
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Baffin Bay Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit counts for Baffin Bay in 2015 averaged 106 transits/month, with a range of 0 

transits in February and March to 342 transits in August (see Appendix S14 for monthly 

transit counts by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 1.13, the Baffin Bay had a 

moderate amount of month-to-month transit count variability in 2015 relative to the 14 

other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 4 3 0 0 2 9 

Feb 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Mar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Apr 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 

May 0 10 8 0 0 3 21 

Jun 0 67 18 4 0 23 112 

Jul 1 154 61 38 0 12 266 

Aug 16 176 106 25 1 18 342 

Sep 9 107 91 19 5 17 248 

Oct 2 46 64 12 0 14 138 

Nov 0 38 41 2 0 15 96 

Dec 0 27 4 0 0 9 40 

37
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Baffin Bay Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Operational hours for Baffin Bay in 2015 averaged 2,338 hrs/month, with a range of 0 

hours in February and March to 6,627 hours in August (see Appendix S15 for monthly 

operational hours by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 1.08, the Baffin Bay 

had a moderate amount of month-to-month operational hour variability in 2015 relative 

to the 14 other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 49 108 0 0 9 165 

Feb 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Mar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Apr 0 4 0 0 0 0 4 

May 0 145 215 0 0 7 368 

Jun 0 727 524 56 0 250 1557 

Jul 23 1584 1065 1099 0 154 3924 

Aug 524 2625 2292 924 5 258 6627 

Sep 282 1513 2948 273 19 354 5389 

Oct 61 422 4532 441 0 166 5623 

Nov 0 376 2955 59 0 134 3524 

Dec 0 377 408 0 0 89 874 

38
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Baffin Bay Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit distance for Baffin Bay in 2015 averaged 14,633 nm/month, with a range of 0 nm in 

February and March to 50,184 nm in August (see Appendix S16 for monthly transit 

distance by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 1.16, the Baffin Bay had a 

moderate amount of month-to-month transit distance variability in 2015 relative to the 14 

other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 407 334 0 0 67 808 

Feb 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Mar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Apr 0 35 0 0 0 0 35 

May 0 1306 718 0 0 84 2108 

Jun 0 6798 1973 395 0 2725 11891 

Jul 317 14463 3931 8148 0 1842 28701 

Aug 5815 27135 8960 5286 62 2926 50184 

Sep 3185 14531 11195 2836 197 4038 35982 

Oct 672 3669 16738 3373 0 1749 26201 

Nov 0 2980 10262 517 0 1281 15040 

Dec 0 2559 1290 0 0 801 4650 

39
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Barents Sea Vessel Activity Synopsis

Surface Area and Sea Ice Extent: 

•	 3 of 14 for total amount of water surface area within the ARPA Arctic boundary
 

(1,418,825 km2)
 

•	 average sea ice extent ranged from 0% of the water surface area in September to

49% in February; average sea ice extent exceeded 25% of the water surface area for 

5 months, 50% for 0 months, and 75% for 0 months 

Unique Vessels: 

•	 3 of 14 for total number of unique vessels (1,486 vessels)

•	 vessel type class with the highest count of unique vessels (458 vessels) was Fishing

(see Appendix S17 for total unique vessel counts by vessel type*)

Transit Counts: 

•	 3 out of 14 for total number of transits (24,187 transits)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of transits (12,664 transits) was Fishing
 

(see Appendix S18 for total transit counts by vessel type*)
 

•	 vessel size class with the highest number of transits (11,899 transits) was <1000 GT

(see Appendix S18 for total transit counts by vessel size class)

•	 transit counts averaged 2,123 transits/month, with a range of 1,341 transits in

January to 2,686 transits in June (see Appendix S22 for monthly transit counts by

vessel type*)

Operational Hours: 

•	 1 out of 14 for total operational hours (1,131,267 hrs)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of operational hours (188,544 hrs) was

Fishing (see Appendix S19 for total operational hours by vessel type*)
 

•	 operational hours averaged 94,272 hrs/month, with a range of 54,444 hours in

February to 126,390 hours in October (see Appendix S23 for monthly operational

hours by vessel type*)

Transit Distance: 

•	 3 out of 14 for total transit distance (6,005,671 nm)

•	 vessel type class with the highest amount of transit distance (3,718,528 nm) was

Fishing (see Appendix S20 for total transit distance by vessel type*)
 

•	 transit distance averaged 500,473 nm/month, with a range of 287,518 nm in

February to 682,998 nm in October (see Appendix S24 for monthly transit distance

by vessel type*)

Transit Density: 

•	 4 out of 14 for percent of water surface area exposed to vessel traffic (95.4%)

•	 3 out of 14 for average transit density (7.92 km/km2

)

•	 4 out of 14 for maximum transit density (253.05 km/km2

)

*supplemental appendices located at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/publications/techmemos.htm 

40
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Barents Sea Transit Counts

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Fishing vessel type class logged the highest number of transits 

(12,664 transits) in the Barents Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the highest number 

of transits were Fishing Vessel, Stern Trawler, and General Cargo Ship with 5,531; 5,160; 

and 2,159 transits, respectively (Appendix S18). Of the 24,187 total transits, the highest 

number (11,899 transits) was logged by vessels in the <1000 GT vessel size class 

(Appendix S18). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 16% of the total 

transits. The flag countries that logged the highest number of transits in the Barents Sea 

during 2015 were Russia, Norway, and Malta with 9,855; 8,687; and 512 transits, 

respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 225 46 574 417 91 0 1353 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 512 2355 734 87 1182 35 19 4924 

Fishing 9805 2811 48 0 0 0 0 12664 

Miscellaneous 1445 584 341 10 108 0 0 2488 

Offshore 82 498 144 11 0 0 4 739 

Tankers 55 485 79 585 490 313 12 2019 

Totals: 11899 6958 1392 1267 2197 439 35 24187 

41
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Barents Sea Operational Hours

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Fishing vessel type class logged the highest number of operational 

hours (864,458 hrs) in the Barents Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the highest 

number of operational hours were Stern Trawler, Fishing Vessel, and Factory Stern 

Trawler with 492,314; 217,792; and 107,327 hours, respectively (Appendix S19). Of the 

1,131,267 total operational hours, the highest number (521,289 hrs) was logged by vessels 

in the <1000 GT vessel size class (Appendix S19). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 

accounted for 8% of the total operational hours. The flag countries that logged the 

highest number of operational hours in the Barents Sea during 2015 were Russia, 

Norway, and Latvia with 545,303; 311,097; and 32,549 hours, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 3777 861 12560 12914 1868 0 31979 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 3373 50736 19002 23851 1088 178 45 98273 

Fishing 489128 370755 4575 0 0 0 0 864458 

Miscellaneous 21052 32728 11517 4786 295 0 0 70378 

Offshore 7412 8889 2997 0 234 0 55 19586 

Tankers 325 10290 2158 12960 15811 4817 232 46593 

Totals: 521289 477174 41109 54157 30342 6863 332 1131267 

42
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Barents Sea Transit Distance

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Fishing vessel type class logged the highest amount of transit 

distance (3,718,528 nm) in the Barents Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the highest 

amount of transit distance were Stern Trawler, Fishing Vessel, and General Cargo Ship 

with 2,148,541; 844,935; and 572,351 nm, respectively (Appendix S20). Of the 6,005,671 

nm of total transit distance, the highest amount (2,440,500 nm) was logged by vessels in 

the 1000-4999 GT vessel size class (Appendix S20). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 

10,000 accounted for 16% of the total transit distance. The flag countries that logged the 

highest amount of transit distance in the Barents Sea during 2015 were Russia, Norway, 

and Latvia with 2,948,742; 1,419,112; and 133,990 nm, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 16907 134167 125115 10061 31250 0 317500 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 641 2726 13156 266302 200814 461432 26472 971544 

Fishing 0 0 0 0 25502 1627039 2065988 3718528 

Miscellaneous 0 0 3272 46151 73300 182900 116027 421650 

Offshore 396 0 1351 0 28405 54684 45084 129920 

Tankers 1602 36497 158886 145294 18652 83196 2403 446530 

Totals: 2639 56130 310832 582863 356734 2440500 2255973 6005671 

43
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

 Barents Sea Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit counts for the Barents Sea in 2015 averaged 2,123 transits/month, with a range of 

1,341 transits in January to 2,686 transits in June (see Appendix S22 for monthly transit 

counts by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 0.24, the Barents Sea had some 

of the lowest month-to-month transit count variability in 2015 relative to the 14 other 

world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 101 273 630 139 28 170 1341 

Feb 83 278 724 125 35 189 1434 

Mar 114 324 668 162 54 175 1497 

Apr 108 325 1045 184 61 172 1895 

May 124 393 1483 171 50 135 2356 

Jun 106 535 1541 308 59 137 2686 

Jul 147 679 1074 354 77 179 2510 

Aug 123 672 1250 351 58 213 2667 

Sep 140 493 1485 213 85 182 2598 

Oct 123 436 1500 259 105 191 2614 

Nov 115 306 1263 193 67 155 2099 

Dec 104 314 1006 119 78 162 1783 

44
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

 Barents Sea Operational Hours

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Operational hours for the Barents Sea in 2015 averaged 94,272 hrs/month, with a range of 

54,444 hours in February to 126,390 hours in October (see Appendix S23 for monthly 

operational hours by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 0.29, the Barents Sea 

had some of the lowest month-to-month operational hour variability in 2015 relative to 

the 14 other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 2272 4872 43079 1737 403 3385 55748 

Feb 2300 5266 40718 1730 612 3818 54444 

Mar 2717 6794 42039 2359 1013 4353 59275 

Apr 2474 6822 52121 2973 1474 3487 69350 

May 3080 7507 72141 7244 1270 3325 94566 

Jun 2279 8909 77745 9179 2397 2877 103386 

Jul 3192 11887 78750 13620 3044 3836 114327 

Aug 2712 12469 81308 10575 2268 4671 114003 

Sep 3034 10852 88207 7449 1972 4506 116021 

Oct 2851 9658 98241 8156 2418 5066 126390 

Nov 2690 6687 97849 3568 1344 3456 115595 

Dec 2378 6550 92260 1789 1372 3814 108163 

45
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

 Barents Sea Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit distance for the Barents Sea in 2015 averaged 500,473 nm/month, with a range of 

287,518 nm in February to 682,998 nm in October (see Appendix S24 for monthly transit 

distance by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 0.29, the Barents Sea had 

some of the lowest month-to-month transit distance variability in 2015 relative to the 14 

other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 21004 50644 173570 9629 2741 32637 290225 

Feb 20201 48835 170812 9104 3752 34814 287518 

Mar 25943 68839 179574 14846 6595 37183 332980 

Apr 25469 69454 213631 17089 10319 37545 373507 

May 31769 78181 285356 38566 9224 33327 476423 

Jun 23834 90470 326033 51019 14685 28635 534676 

Jul 32638 114241 341851 83531 21019 38940 632220 

Aug 28350 119870 360388 66459 14372 47690 637129 

Sep 30527 105194 400351 46425 12460 44810 639767 

Oct 29158 96263 444748 52053 16246 44529 682997 

Nov 26137 66580 428522 22100 9447 31560 584346 

Dec 22469 62971 393692 10829 9062 34859 533882 

46
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Beaufort Sea Vessel Activity Synopsis

Surface Area and Sea Ice Extent: 

•	 11 of 14 for total amount of water surface area within the ARPA Arctic boundary
 

(440,400 km2)
 

•	 average sea ice extent ranged from 9% of the water surface area in September to

98% in January, February, March, April, May, November, and December; average 

sea ice extent exceeded 25% of the water surface area for 11 months, 50% for 10 

months, and 75% for 9 months 

Unique Vessels: 

•	 14 of 14 for total number of unique vessels (43 vessels)

•	 vessel type class with the highest count of unique vessels (32 vessels) was

Miscellaneous (see Appendix S25 for total unique vessel counts by vessel type*)
 

Transit Counts: 

•	 12 out of 14 for total number of transits (483 transits)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of transits (424 transits) was

Miscellaneous (see Appendix S26 for total transit counts by vessel type*)
 

•	 vessel size class with the highest number of transits (397 transits) was <1000 GT
 

(see Appendix S26 for total transit counts by vessel size class)
 

•	 transit counts averaged 42 transits/month, with a range of 0 transits in January,

February, March, April, May, November, and December to 218 transits in

September (see Appendix S30 for monthly transit counts by vessel type*)

Operational Hours: 

•	 14 out of 14 for total operational hours (8,034 hrs)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of operational hours (1,339 hrs) was

Miscellaneous (see Appendix S27 for total operational hours by vessel type*)
 

•	 operational hours averaged 669 hrs/month, with a range of 0 hours in January,

February, March, April, May, November, and December to 3,417 hours in

September (see Appendix S31 for monthly operational hours by vessel type*)

Transit Distance: 

•	 14 out of 14 for total transit distance (47,447 nm)

•	 vessel type class with the highest amount of transit distance (37,475 nm) was

Miscellaneous (see Appendix S28 for total transit distance by vessel type*)
 

•	 transit distance averaged 3,954 nm/month, with a range of 0 nm in January,

February, March, April, May, November, and December to 21,685 nm in September

(see Appendix S32 for monthly transit distance by vessel type*)

Transit Density: 

•	 12 out of 14 for percent of water surface area exposed to vessel traffic (54.4%)

•	 13 out of 14 for average transit density (0.35 km/km2)

•	 11 out of 14 for maximum transit density (16.97 km/km2

)

*supplemental appendices located at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/publications/techmemos.htm 

47
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Beaufort Sea Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Miscellaneous vessel type class logged the highest number of 

transits (424 transits) in the Beaufort Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the highest 

number of transits were Tug, Pusher Tug, and Buoy Tender with 302, 52, and 28 transits, 

respectively (Appendix S26). Of the 483 total transits, the highest number (397 transits) 

was logged by vessels in the <1000 GT vessel size class (Appendix S26). Vessels with a 

gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 3% of the total transits. The flag countries that 

logged the highest number of transits in the Beaufort Sea during 2015 were United States 

Of America, Canada, and Singapore with 362, 94, and 12 transits, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 26 0 3 0 4 0 0 33 

Fishing 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 

Miscellaneous 363 44 10 0 7 0 0 424 

Offshore 0 15 0 0 0 0 0 15 

Tankers 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 

Totals: 397 59 13 3 11 0 0 483 

48
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Beaufort Sea Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Miscellaneous vessel type class logged the highest number of 

operational hours (6,577 hrs) in the Beaufort Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the 

highest number of operational hours were Tug, Pusher Tug, and Landing Craft with 4,184; 

821; and 544 hours, respectively (Appendix S27). Of the 8,034 total operational hours, the 

highest number (5,801 hrs) was logged by vessels in the <1000 GT vessel size class 

(Appendix S27). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 5% of the total 

operational hours. The flag countries that logged the highest number of operational 

hours in the Beaufort Sea during 2015 were United States Of America, Canada, and 

Singapore with 5,223; 2,147; and 216 hours, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 544 0 118 89 0 0 0 751 

Fishing 271 0 0 0 0 0 0 271 

Miscellaneous 4986 922 438 231 0 0 0 6577 

Offshore 0 342 0 0 0 0 0 342 

Tankers 0 0 0 0 93 0 0 93 

Totals: 5801 1263 556 320 93 0 0 8034 

49
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Beaufort Sea Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Miscellaneous vessel type class logged the highest amount of 

transit distance (37,475 nm) in the Beaufort Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the 

highest amount of transit distance were Tug, Pusher Tug, and Buoy Tender with 22,253; 

4,528; and 3,225 nm, respectively (Appendix S28). Of the 47,447 nm of total transit 

distance, the highest amount (31,191 nm) was logged by vessels in the <1000 GT vessel 

size class (Appendix S28). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 9% of the 

total transit distance. The flag countries that logged the highest amount of transit 

distance in the Beaufort Sea during 2015 were United States Of America, Canada, and 

Finland with 27,805; 13,544; and 1,287 nm, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 0 0 0 1264 1132 0 3162 5557 

Fishing 0 0 0 0 0 0 1295 1295 

Miscellaneous 0 0 0 1808 3523 5409 26734 37475 

Offshore 0 0 0 0 0 1960 0 1960 

Tankers 0 0 1160 0 0 0 0 1160 

Totals: 0 0 1160 3072 4656 7369 31191 47447 

50
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Beaufort Sea Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit counts for the Beaufort Sea in 2015 averaged 42 transits/month, with a range of 0 

transits in January, February, March, April, May, November, and December to 218 transits 

in September (see Appendix S30 for monthly transit counts by vessel type). With a 

coefficient of variation of 1.89, the Beaufort Sea had some of the highest month-tomonth transit count variability in 2015 relative to the 14 other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Feb 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Mar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Apr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

May 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Jun 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 

Jul 0 0 1 50 2 0 53 

Aug 0 11 6 164 11 2 194 

Sep 0 23 1 189 4 1 218 

Oct 0 0 0 32 0 0 32 

Nov 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Dec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

51
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Beaufort Sea Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Operational hours for the Beaufort Sea in 2015 averaged 669 hrs/month, with a range of 

0 hours in January, February, March, April, May, November, and December to 3,417 hours 

in September (see Appendix S31 for monthly operational hours by vessel type). With a 

coefficient of variation of 1.93, the Beaufort Sea had some of the highest month-tomonth operational hour variability in 2015 relative to the 14 other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Feb 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Mar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Apr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

May 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Jun 0 0 0 12 0 0 12 

Jul 0 0 24 575 18 0 617 

Aug 0 309 239 2519 247 50 3365 

Sep 0 442 7 2848 76 44 3417 

Oct 0 0 0 624 0 0 624 

Nov 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Dec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

52
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Beaufort Sea Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit distance for the Beaufort Sea in 2015 averaged 3,954 nm/month, with a range of 0 

nm in January, February, March, April, May, November, and December to 21,685 nm in 

September (see Appendix S32 for monthly transit distance by vessel type). With a 

coefficient of variation of 1.92, the Beaufort Sea had some of the highest month-tomonth transit distance variability in 2015 relative to the 14 other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Feb 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Mar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Apr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

May 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Jun 0 0 0 43 0 0 43 

Jul 0 0 163 3287 39 0 3489 

Aug 0 1721 1096 13123 1330 582 17852 

Sep 0 3836 36 16645 590 578 21685 

Oct 0 0 0 4377 0 0 4377 

Nov 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Dec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

53
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Bering Sea Vessel Activity Synopsis 

Surface Area and Sea Ice Extent: 

•	 2 of 14 for total amount of water surface area within the ARPA Arctic boundary
 

(2,404,400 km2)
 

•	 average sea ice extent ranged from 0% of the water surface area in August to 26%
 

in March; average sea ice extent exceeded 25% of the water surface area for 2
 

months, 50% for 0 months, and 75% for 0 months
 

Unique Vessels: 

•	 1 of 14 for total number of unique vessels (2,922 vessels)

•	 vessel type class with the highest count of unique vessels (1,215 vessels) was Bulk
 

Carriers (see Appendix S33 for total unique vessel counts by vessel type*)
 

Transit Counts: 

•	 2 out of 14 for total number of transits (28,302 transits)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of transits (17,758 transits) was Fishing
 

(see Appendix S34 for total transit counts by vessel type*)
 

•	 vessel size class with the highest number of transits (15,939 transits) was <1000 GT

(see Appendix S34 for total transit counts by vessel size class)

•	 transit counts averaged 2,472 transits/month, with a range of 1,210 transits in

December to 5,117 transits in July (see Appendix S38 for monthly transit counts by

vessel type*)

Operational Hours: 

•	 2 out of 14 for total operational hours (1,054,746 hrs)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of operational hours (175,791 hrs) was

Fishing (see Appendix S35 for total operational hours by vessel type*)
 

•	 operational hours averaged 87,895 hrs/month, with a range of 53,322 hours in

December to 124,853 hours in July (see Appendix S39 for monthly operational

hours by vessel type*)

Transit Distance: 

•	 1 out of 14 for total transit distance (8,106,124 nm)

•	 vessel type class with the highest amount of transit distance (3,138,661 nm) was

Fishing (see Appendix S36 for total transit distance by vessel type*)
 

•	 transit distance averaged 675,510 nm/month, with a range of 455,496 nm in

December to 944,675 nm in July (see Appendix S40 for monthly transit distance by

vessel type*)

Transit Density: 

•	 2 out of 14 for percent of water surface area exposed to vessel traffic (98.2%)

•	 4 out of 14 for average transit density (6.42 km/km2

)

•	 2 out of 14 for maximum transit density (479.94 km/km2

)

*supplemental appendices located at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/publications/techmemos.htm 

54
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Bering Sea Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Fishing vessel type class logged the highest number of transits 

(17,758 transits) in the Bering Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the highest number 

of transits were Fishing Vessel, Stern Trawler, and Bulk Carrier with 11,089; 3,404; and 

2,555 transits, respectively (Appendix S34). Of the 28,302 total transits, the highest 

number (15,939 transits) was logged by vessels in the <1000 GT vessel size class 

(Appendix S34). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 20% of the total 

transits. The flag countries that logged the highest number of transits in the Bering Sea 

during 2015 were United States Of America, Russia, and Panama with 16,126; 5,997; and 

1,770 transits, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 0 1509 827 218 34 2588 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 458 1027 893 469 422 1696 212 5177 

Fishing 13817 3426 447 20 48 0 0 17758 

Miscellaneous 1642 130 22 0 27 0 0 1821 

Offshore 9 102 0 0 17 0 0 128 

Tankers 13 470 158 88 77 24 0 830 

Totals: 15939 5155 1520 2086 1418 1938 246 28302 

55
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Bering Sea Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Fishing vessel type class logged the highest number of operational 

hours (633,496 hrs) in the Bering Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the highest 

number of operational hours were Fishing Vessel, Bulk Carrier, and Stern Trawler with 

376,295; 168,373; and 120,104 hours, respectively (Appendix S35). Of the 1,054,746 total 

operational hours, the highest number (495,043 hrs) was logged by vessels in the <1000 

GT vessel size class (Appendix S35). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 

30% of the total operational hours. The flag countries that logged the highest number of 

operational hours in the Bering Sea during 2015 were United States Of America, Russia, 

and Panama with 516,651; 186,085; and 101,376 hours, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 0 53541 100710 14074 2005 170330 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 9907 19901 21119 14606 24156 78421 10158 178269 

Fishing 447137 165245 16689 4222 203 0 0 633496 

Miscellaneous 37704 4385 980 782 0 0 0 43851 

Offshore 33 5206 0 702 0 0 0 5942 

Tankers 262 9293 4651 3526 4588 538 0 22859 

Totals: 495043 204032 43439 77379 129656 93033 12163 1054746 

56
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Bering Sea Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Fishing vessel type class logged the highest amount of transit 

distance (3,138,661 nm) in the Bering Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the highest 

amount of transit distance were Bulk Carrier, Fishing Vessel, and Container Ship (Fully 

Cellular) with 1,873,017; 1,750,599; and 1,503,023 nm, respectively (Appendix S36). Of the 

8,106,124 nm of total transit distance, the highest amount (2,472,482 nm) was logged by 

vessels in the <1000 GT vessel size class (Appendix S36). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 

10,000 accounted for 50% of the total transit distance. The flag countries that logged the 

highest amount of transit distance in the Bering Sea during 2015 were United States Of 

America, Panama, and Russia with 2,726,808; 1,290,379; and 1,088,004 nm, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 23796 155832 1114219 601727 0 0 0 1895574 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 165112 1276941 343960 184951 238551 213852 70408 2493775 

Fishing 0 0 1339 24688 101656 848962 2162016 3138661 

Miscellaneous 0 0 0 8974 10537 36323 237418 293252 

Offshore 0 0 0 5329 0 43168 349 48846 

Tankers 0 4957 55890 44953 46563 81363 2291 236017 

Totals: 188908 1437731 1515408 870621 397306 1223668 2472482 8106124 

57
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Bering Sea Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit counts for the Bering Sea in 2015 averaged 2,472 transits/month, with a range of 

1,210 transits in December to 5,117 transits in July (see Appendix S38 for monthly transit 

counts by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 0.43, the Bering Sea had a low 

amount of month-to-month transit count variability in 2015 relative to the 14 other world 

seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 284 420 1218 39 0 18 1979 

Feb 197 314 1817 53 0 17 2398 

Mar 232 406 1831 79 0 21 2569 

Apr 205 328 949 96 0 31 1609 

May 244 492 935 166 5 64 1906 

Jun 230 494 2284 303 11 106 3428 

Jul 257 672 3621 369 38 160 5117 

Aug 267 611 1916 241 23 105 3163 

Sep 207 560 1370 258 23 124 2542 

Oct 249 526 1207 196 34 108 2320 

Nov 172 322 819 44 3 58 1418 

Dec 259 280 596 30 0 45 1210 

58
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Bering Sea Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Operational hours for the Bering Sea in 2015 averaged 87,895 hrs/month, with a range of 

53,322 hours in December to 124,853 hours in July (see Appendix S39 for monthly 

operational hours by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 0.23, the Bering Sea 

had some of the lowest month-to-month operational hour variability in 2015 relative to 

the 14 other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 17522 16331 44141 447 0 755 79195 

Feb 12768 11014 61113 544 0 751 86190 

Mar 14522 15329 76250 1079 0 895 108076 

Apr 11071 11190 40209 2024 0 977 65471 

May 15728 19496 40718 3785 82 2071 81880 

Jun 13635 14648 67556 6666 100 2890 105495 

Jul 14720 17677 77358 9984 1351 3763 124853 

Aug 13986 16845 58110 5464 1246 2573 98224 

Sep 11815 16115 54304 6171 1436 3225 93066 

Oct 16550 17594 49464 6331 1454 2559 93953 

Nov 11238 10358 41002 905 273 1245 65021 

Dec 16772 11672 23273 451 0 1154 53322 

59
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Bering Sea Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit distance for the Bering Sea in 2015 averaged 675,510 nm/month, with a range of 

455,496 nm in December to 944,675 nm in July (see Appendix S40 for monthly transit 

distance by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 0.22, the Bering Sea had some 

of the lowest month-to-month transit distance variability in 2015 relative to the 14 other 

world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 189148 236080 209264 2891 0 8514 645897 

Feb 139461 159291 307139 3435 0 8507 617833 

Mar 159295 224253 368533 6466 0 10754 769301 

Apr 118835 155455 193312 10877 0 11072 489551 

May 178539 279677 203058 22983 1076 22033 707366 

Jun 162542 202337 356197 46514 630 29642 797862 

Jul 174165 241870 409892 69468 10661 38619 944675 

Aug 166174 234353 295626 36565 10409 27348 770475 

Sep 140793 218254 266789 40614 12019 33186 711655 

Oct 184266 238788 236164 43042 11555 24774 738589 

Nov 110059 139911 186900 7311 2495 10748 457424 

Dec 172298 163505 105787 3086 0 10821 455497 

60
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Chukchi Sea Vessel Activity Synopsis

Surface Area and Sea Ice Extent: 

•	 12 of 14 for total amount of water surface area within the ARPA Arctic boundary
 

(353,025 km2)
 

•	 average sea ice extent ranged from 0% of the water surface area in August to 97%
 

in January, February, March, April, May, and December; average sea ice extent
 

exceeded 25% of the water surface area for 8 months, 50% for 7 months, and 75%
 

for 6 months
 

Unique Vessels: 

•	 7 of 14 for total number of unique vessels (159 vessels)

•	 vessel type class with the highest count of unique vessels (52 vessels) was

Miscellaneous (see Appendix S41 for total unique vessel counts by vessel type*)
 

Transit Counts: 

•	 8 out of 14 for total number of transits (1,654 transits)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of transits (829 transits) was

Miscellaneous (see Appendix S42 for total transit counts by vessel type*)
 

•	 vessel size class with the highest number of transits (654 transits) was <1000 GT
 

(see Appendix S42 for total transit counts by vessel size class)
 

•	 transit counts averaged 143 transits/month, with a range of 0 transits in January,

February, and March to 540 transits in August (see Appendix S46 for monthly

transit counts by vessel type*)

Operational Hours: 

•	 7 out of 14 for total operational hours (36,536 hrs)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of operational hours (6,089 hrs) was

Miscellaneous (see Appendix S43 for total operational hours by vessel type*)
 

•	 operational hours averaged 3,045 hrs/month, with a range of 0 hours in January,

February, and March to 11,760 hours in August (see Appendix S47 for monthly

operational hours by vessel type*)

Transit Distance: 

•	 8 out of 14 for total transit distance (201,155 nm)

•	 vessel type class with the highest amount of transit distance (87,814 nm) was

Miscellaneous (see Appendix S44 for total transit distance by vessel type*)
 

•	 transit distance averaged 16,763 nm/month, with a range of 0 nm in January,

February, and March to 61,593 nm in August (see Appendix S48 for monthly transit

distance by vessel type*)

Transit Density: 

•	 5 out of 14 for percent of water surface area exposed to vessel traffic (90.9%)

•	 8 out of 14 for average transit density (1.15 km/km2)

•	 7 out of 14 for maximum transit density (56.86 km/km2

)

*supplemental appendices located at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/publications/techmemos.htm 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Chukchi Sea Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Miscellaneous vessel type class logged the highest number of 

transits (829 transits) in the Chukchi Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the highest 

number of transits were Tug, Platform Supply Ship, and Anchor Handling Tug Supply with 

637, 247, and 161 transits, respectively (Appendix S42). Of the 1,654 total transits, the 

highest number (654 transits) was logged by vessels in the <1000 GT vessel size class 

(Appendix S42). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 13% of the total 

transits. The flag countries that logged the highest number of transits in the Chukchi Sea 

during 2015 were United States Of America, Russia, and Finland with 1,115; 271; and 58 

transits, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 0 53 2 0 0 55 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 60 51 122 2 26 0 0 261 

Fishing 29 3 0 0 0 0 0 32 

Miscellaneous 565 142 69 0 53 0 0 829 

Offshore 0 364 0 0 49 0 0 413 

Tankers 0 11 21 17 7 8 0 64 

Totals: 654 571 212 72 137 8 0 1654 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Chukchi Sea Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Miscellaneous vessel type class logged the highest number of 

operational hours (19,136 hrs) in the Chukchi Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the 

highest number of operational hours were Tug, Platform Supply Ship, and Anchor 

Handling Tug Supply with 14,328; 4,952; and 3,766 hours, respectively (Appendix S43). Of 

the 36,536 total operational hours, the highest number (14,580 hrs) was logged by 

vessels in the <1000 GT vessel size class (Appendix S43). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 

10,000 accounted for 10% of the total operational hours. The flag countries that logged 

the highest number of operational hours in the Chukchi Sea during 2015 were United 

States Of America, Russia, and Finland with 24,957; 5,730; and 936 hours, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 0 18 543 0 0 561 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 845 1389 2131 466 82 0 0 4912 

Fishing 1456 137 0 0 0 0 0 1593 

Miscellaneous 12280 4718 1263 876 0 0 0 19136 

Offshore 0 7864 0 1050 0 0 0 8914 

Tankers 0 233 570 76 243 297 0 1419 

Totals: 14580 14341 3964 2485 868 297 0 36536 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Chukchi Sea Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Miscellaneous vessel type class logged the highest amount of 

transit distance (87,814 nm) in the Chukchi Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the 

highest amount of transit distance were Tug, General Cargo Ship, and Platform Supply 

Ship with 53,274; 27,339; and 20,317 nm, respectively (Appendix S44). Of the 201,155 nm 

of total transit distance, the highest amount (75,063 nm) was logged by vessels in the 

1000-4999 GT vessel size class (Appendix S44). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 

accounted for 14% of the total transit distance. The flag countries that logged the highest 

amount of transit distance in the Chukchi Sea during 2015 were United States Of America, 

Russia, and Finland with 110,345; 48,477; and 5,838 nm, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 5776 211 0 0 0 5987 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 0 0 747 5831 21075 11520 5390 44563 

Fishing 0 0 0 0 0 1116 8712 9827 

Miscellaneous 0 0 0 7068 8378 23678 48689 87814 

Offshore 0 0 0 4132 0 36261 0 40393 

Tankers 0 1342 2292 869 5580 2489 0 12571 

Totals: 0 1342 8815 18111 35033 75063 62791 201155 

64
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Chukchi Sea Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit counts for the Chukchi Sea in 2015 averaged 143 transits/month, with a range of 0 

transits in January, February, and March to 540 transits in August (see Appendix S46 for 

monthly transit counts by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 1.38, the Chukchi 

Sea had a high amount of month-to-month transit count variability in 2015 relative to the 

14 other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Feb 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Mar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Apr 0 2 0 1 0 0 3 

May 0 20 0 18 0 0 38 

Jun 5 17 0 58 0 0 80 

Jul 16 48 8 190 78 16 356 

Aug 13 76 7 283 140 21 540 

Sep 12 64 10 205 145 14 450 

Oct 9 33 4 101 57 5 209 

Nov 0 12 4 4 2 0 22 

Dec 0 0 0 6 0 8 14 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Chukchi Sea Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Operational hours for the Chukchi Sea in 2015 averaged 3,045 hrs/month, with a range of 

0 hours in January, February, and March to 11,760 hours in August (see Appendix S47 for 

monthly operational hours by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 1.44, the 

Chukchi Sea had a high amount of month-to-month operational hour variability in 2015 

relative to the 14 other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Feb 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Mar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Apr 0 7 0 5 0 0 12 

May 0 179 0 263 0 0 442 

Jun 49 502 0 626 0 0 1177 

Jul 159 763 281 3960 1493 209 6865 

Aug 119 1326 427 6475 2818 595 11760 

Sep 153 1201 453 5373 2935 337 10451 

Oct 81 744 338 2101 1561 171 4996 

Nov 0 190 95 129 108 0 523 

Dec 0 0 0 203 0 107 310 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Chukchi Sea Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit distance for the Chukchi Sea in 2015 averaged 16,763 nm/month, with a range of 0 

nm in January, February, and March to 61,593 nm in August (see Appendix S48 for 

monthly transit distance by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 1.39, the 

Chukchi Sea had a high amount of month-to-month transit distance variability in 2015 

relative to the 14 other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Feb 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Mar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Apr 0 28 0 35 0 0 63 

May 0 961 0 930 0 0 1891 

Jun 596 2824 0 2868 0 0 6288 

Jul 1818 6650 1933 18519 7547 2207 38674 

Aug 1353 12342 2529 28520 12404 4445 61593 

Sep 1305 12229 2729 24399 12184 3071 55917 

Oct 915 7592 2049 9062 7454 1796 28868 

Nov 0 1939 588 1280 804 0 4611 

Dec 0 0 0 2201 0 1052 3253 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Davis Strait Vessel Activity Synopsis

Surface Area and Sea Ice Extent: 

•	 13 of 14 for total amount of water surface area within the ARPA Arctic boundary
 

(207,025 km2)
 

•	 average sea ice extent ranged from 0% of the water surface area in September and

October to 93% in February, March, and April; average sea ice extent exceeded 25% 

of the water surface area for 9 months, 50% for 9 months, and 75% for 6 months 

Unique Vessels: 

•	 9 of 14 for total number of unique vessels (114 vessels)

•	 vessel type class with the highest count of unique vessels (37 vessels) was Fishing
 

(see Appendix S49 for total unique vessel counts by vessel type*)
 

Transit Counts: 

•	 6 out of 14 for total number of transits (2,159 transits)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of transits (922 transits) was Dry
 

Cargo/Passenger (see Appendix S50 for total transit counts by vessel type*)
 

•	 vessel size class with the highest number of transits (993 transits) was 1000-4999

GT (see Appendix S50 for total transit counts by vessel size class)
 

•	 transit counts averaged 184 transits/month, with a range of 40 transits in March to

341 transits in August (see Appendix S54 for monthly transit counts by vessel

type*)

Operational Hours: 

•	 6 out of 14 for total operational hours (46,337 hrs)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of operational hours (7,723 hrs) was

Fishing (see Appendix S51 for total operational hours by vessel type*)
 

•	 operational hours averaged 3,861 hrs/month, with a range of 684 hours in March to

7,330 hours in September (see Appendix S55 for monthly operational hours by

vessel type*)

Transit Distance: 

•	 6 out of 14 for total transit distance (248,172 nm)

•	 vessel type class with the highest amount of transit distance (124,032 nm) was

Fishing (see Appendix S52 for total transit distance by vessel type*)
 

•	 transit distance averaged 20,681 nm/month, with a range of 2,158 nm in March to

41,865 nm in September (see Appendix S56 for monthly transit distance by vessel

type*)

Transit Density: 

•	 6 out of 14 for percent of water surface area exposed to vessel traffic (88.8%)

•	 5 out of 14 for average transit density (2.40 km/km2

)

•	 8 out of 14 for maximum transit density (37.05 km/km2

)

*supplemental appendices located at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/publications/techmemos.htm 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Davis Strait Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Dry Cargo/Passenger vessel type class logged the highest number of 

transits (922 transits) in the Davis Strait during 2015. The vessel types with the highest 

number of transits were Stern Trawler, Passenger/Cruise, and Factory Stern Trawler with 

361, 308, and 248 transits, respectively (Appendix S50). Of the 2,159 total transits, the 

highest number (993 transits) was logged by vessels in the 1000-4999 GT vessel size class 

(Appendix S50). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 12% of the total 

transits. The flag countries that logged the highest number of transits in the Davis Strait 

during 2015 were Denmark, Denmark (Dis), and Canada with 926, 544, and 186 transits, 

respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 0 27 0 0 0 27 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 145 335 234 21 187 0 0 922 

Fishing 321 478 0 0 0 0 0 799 

Miscellaneous 187 8 20 0 2 0 0 217 

Offshore 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 

Tankers 0 172 3 2 13 0 0 190 

Totals: 655 993 257 50 202 0 2 2159 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Davis Strait Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Fishing vessel type class logged the highest number of operational 

hours (33,559 hrs) in the Davis Strait during 2015. The vessel types with the highest 

number of operational hours were Stern Trawler, Factory Stern Trawler, and 

Passenger/Cruise with 21,913; 9,902; and 2,390 hours, respectively (Appendix S51). Of the 

46,337 total operational hours, the highest number (30,870 hrs) was logged by vessels in 

the 1000-4999 GT vessel size class (Appendix S51). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 

accounted for 5% of the total operational hours. The flag countries that logged the 

highest number of operational hours in the Davis Strait during 2015 were Denmark, 

Denmark (Dis), and Canada with 31,743; 4,759; and 3,594 hours, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 0 0 506 0 0 506 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 1072 3129 2649 1336 183 0 0 8369 

Fishing 7645 25915 0 0 0 0 0 33559 

Miscellaneous 1337 309 330 33 0 0 0 2009 

Offshore 15 0 0 0 0 0 7 22 

Tankers 0 1518 119 229 5 0 0 1872 

Totals: 10070 30870 3098 1598 694 0 7 46337 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Davis Strait Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Fishing vessel type class logged the highest amount of transit 

distance (124,032 nm) in the Davis Strait during 2015. The vessel types with the highest 

amount of transit distance were Stern Trawler, Factory Stern Trawler, and Container Ship 

(Fully Cellular) with 80,430; 36,955; and 27,266 nm, respectively (Appendix S52). Of the 

248,172 nm of total transit distance, the highest amount (143,226 nm) was logged by 

vessels in the 1000-4999 GT vessel size class (Appendix S52). Vessels with a gross 

tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 11% of the total transit distance. The flag countries that 

logged the highest amount of transit distance in the Davis Strait during 2015 were 

Denmark, Denmark (Dis), and Canada with 127,627; 50,763; and 21,065 nm, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 5646 0 0 0 0 5646 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 0 0 2020 16523 29296 29981 6956 84775 

Fishing 0 0 0 0 0 96238 27794 124032 

Miscellaneous 0 0 0 493 3157 1876 9233 14759 

Offshore 70 0 0 0 0 0 187 257 

Tankers 0 0 51 2717 803 15132 0 18703 

Totals: 70 0 7716 19733 33256 143226 44170 248172 

71
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Davis Strait Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit counts for the Davis Strait in 2015 averaged 184 transits/month, with a range of 40 

transits in March to 341 transits in August (see Appendix S54 for monthly transit counts 

by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 0.56, the Davis Strait had a moderate 

amount of month-to-month transit count variability in 2015 relative to the 14 other world 

seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 21 79 3 0 9 112 

Feb 0 9 35 1 0 3 48 

Mar 0 15 21 1 0 3 40 

Apr 0 28 50 3 0 5 86 

May 0 70 68 0 0 26 164 

Jun 0 126 81 28 0 24 259 

Jul 2 172 56 38 0 11 279 

Aug 15 192 74 31 1 28 341 

Sep 10 124 114 52 3 21 324 

Oct 2 81 101 30 0 21 235 

Nov 0 51 104 27 0 15 197 

Dec 0 42 57 5 0 25 129 

72
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Davis Strait Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Operational hours for the Davis Strait in 2015 averaged 3,861 hrs/month, with a range of 

684 hours in March to 7,330 hours in September (see Appendix S55 for monthly 

operational hours by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 0.54, the Davis Strait 

had a moderate amount of month-to-month operational hour variability in 2015 relative 

to the 14 other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 190 1755 11 0 70 2026 

Feb 0 68 738 5 0 19 830 

Mar 0 92 574 4 0 14 684 

Apr 0 218 2353 9 0 15 2594 

May 0 549 3131 0 0 234 3915 

Jun 0 1017 3405 180 0 285 4887 

Jul 17 1434 2352 409 0 98 4310 

Aug 255 1758 3545 264 14 281 6117 

Sep 192 1290 4885 608 8 348 7330 

Oct 42 820 4504 308 0 197 5871 

Nov 0 565 3678 186 0 133 4561 

Dec 0 368 2639 26 0 178 3210 

73
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Davis Strait Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit distance for the Davis Strait in 2015 averaged 20,681 nm/month, with a range of 

2,158 nm in March to 41,865 nm in September (see Appendix S56 for monthly transit 

distance by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 0.66, the Davis Strait had a 

moderate amount of month-to-month transit distance variability in 2015 relative to the 14 

other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 1816 4966 74 0 549 7405 

Feb 0 565 2295 42 0 72 2974 

Mar 0 707 1381 6 0 65 2159 

Apr 0 1997 6839 82 0 106 9024 

May 0 4846 11246 0 0 1902 17994 

Jun 0 9808 12943 1201 0 3160 27112 

Jul 239 14599 8785 3400 0 1142 28165 

Aug 2754 19009 13198 2032 180 3084 40257 

Sep 2189 12647 19588 3956 77 3408 41865 

Oct 464 8889 18404 2349 0 2002 32108 

Nov 0 5821 15052 1438 0 1525 23836 

Dec 0 4071 9335 180 0 1690 15276 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

East Siberian Sea Vessel Activity Synopsis

Surface Area and Sea Ice Extent: 

•	 8 of 14 for total amount of water surface area within the ARPA Arctic boundary
 

(638,050 km2)
 

•	 average sea ice extent ranged from 5% of the water surface area in September to

98% in January, February, March, April, May, June, November, and December; 

average sea ice extent exceeded 25% of the water surface area for 10 months, 50% 

for 10 months, and 75% for 9 months 

Unique Vessels: 

•	 11 of 14 for total number of unique vessels (77 vessels)

•	 vessel type class with the highest count of unique vessels (47 vessels) was Dry

Cargo/Passenger (see Appendix S57 for total unique vessel counts by vessel type*)

Transit Counts: 

•	 14 out of 14 for total number of transits (352 transits)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of transits (234 transits) was Dry
 

Cargo/Passenger (see Appendix S58 for total transit counts by vessel type*)
 

•	 vessel size class with the highest number of transits (177 transits) was 1000-4999

GT (see Appendix S58 for total transit counts by vessel size class)
 

•	 transit counts averaged 31 transits/month, with a range of 0 transits in January,

February, March, April, and June to 137 transits in September (see Appendix S62 for

monthly transit counts by vessel type*)

Operational Hours: 

•	 12 out of 14 for total operational hours (12,493 hrs)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of operational hours (2,082 hrs) was Dry

Cargo/Passenger (see Appendix S59 for total operational hours by vessel type*)

•	 operational hours averaged 1,041 hrs/month, with a range of 0 hours in January,

February, March, April, and June to 4,928 hours in September (see Appendix S63

for monthly operational hours by vessel type*)

Transit Distance: 

•	 12 out of 14 for total transit distance (118,476 nm)

•	 vessel type class with the highest amount of transit distance (65,930 nm) was Dry
 

Cargo/Passenger (see Appendix S60 for total transit distance by vessel type*)
 

•	 transit distance averaged 9,873 nm/month, with a range of 0 nm in January,

February, March, April, and June to 47,123 nm in September (see Appendix S64 for

monthly transit distance by vessel type*)

Transit Density: 

•	 11 out of 14 for percent of water surface area exposed to vessel traffic (65.2%)

•	 11 out of 14 for average transit density (0.57 km/km2)

•	 13 out of 14 for maximum transit density (9.26 km/km2

)

*supplemental appendices located at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/publications/techmemos.htm 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

East Siberian Sea Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Dry Cargo/Passenger vessel type class logged the highest number of 

transits (234 transits) in the East Siberian Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the 

highest number of transits were General Cargo Ship, Passenger/Cruise, and Research 

Survey Vessel with 180, 34, and 22 transits, respectively (Appendix S58). Of the 352 total 

transits, the highest number (177 transits) was logged by vessels in the 1000-4999 GT 

vessel size class (Appendix S58). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 24% 

of the total transits. The flag countries that logged the highest number of transits in the 

East Siberian Sea during 2015 were Russia, Netherlands, Antigua & Barbuda, and Liberia 

with 313, 12, 5, and 5 transits, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 0 120 68 2 44 0 0 234 

Fishing 2 11 0 0 0 0 0 13 

Miscellaneous 0 16 8 0 18 0 0 42 

Offshore 0 15 0 0 0 0 0 15 

Tankers 0 15 12 0 21 0 0 48 

Totals: 2 177 88 2 83 0 0 352 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

East Siberian Sea Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Dry Cargo/Passenger vessel type class logged the highest number of 

operational hours (6,784 hrs) in the East Siberian Sea during 2015. The vessel types with 

the highest number of operational hours were General Cargo Ship, Research Survey 

Vessel, and Icebreaker with 5,205; 1,206; and 1,056 hours, respectively (Appendix S59). Of 

the 12,493 total operational hours, the highest number (6,192 hrs) was logged by vessels 

in the 1000-4999 GT vessel size class (Appendix S59). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 

10,000 accounted for 29% of the total operational hours. The flag countries that logged 

the highest number of operational hours in the East Siberian Sea during 2015 were Russia, 

Netherlands, and Liberia with 11,203; 513; and 190 hours, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 0 3547 1607 1485 144 0 0 6784 

Fishing 206 447 0 0 0 0 0 652 

Miscellaneous 0 1045 198 1105 0 0 0 2348 

Offshore 0 697 0 0 0 0 0 697 

Tankers 0 456 655 901 0 0 0 2012 

Totals: 206 6192 2460 3491 144 0 0 12493 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

 East Siberian Sea Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Dry Cargo/Passenger vessel type class logged the highest amount of 

transit distance (65,930 nm) in the East Siberian Sea during 2015. The vessel types with 

the highest amount of transit distance were General Cargo Ship, Icebreaker, and 

Research Survey Vessel with 48,954; 12,424; and 10,621 nm, respectively (Appendix S60). 

Of the 118,476 nm of total transit distance, the highest amount (51,865 nm) was logged 

by vessels in the 1000-4999 GT vessel size class (Appendix S60). Vessels with a gross 

tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 33% of the total transit distance. The flag countries that 

logged the highest amount of transit distance in the East Siberian Sea during 2015 were 

Russia, Netherlands, and Liberia with 103,539; 6,594; and 2,228 nm, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 0 0 1502 16566 18170 29693 0 65930 

Fishing 0 0 0 0 0 3204 1097 4300 

Miscellaneous 0 0 0 12963 2030 8960 0 23952 

Offshore 0 0 0 0 0 5700 0 5700 

Tankers 0 0 0 8005 6279 4308 0 18593 

Totals: 0 0 1502 37533 26480 51865 1097 118476 

78
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

East Siberian Sea Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit counts for the East Siberian Sea in 2015 averaged 31 transits/month, with a range 

of 0 transits in January, February, March, April, and June to 137 transits in September (see 

Appendix S62 for monthly transit counts by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 

1.56, the East Siberian Sea had some of the highest month-to-month transit count 

variability in 2015 relative to the 14 other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Feb 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Mar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Apr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

May 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 

Jun 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Jul 0 18 0 2 2 7 29 

Aug 0 82 8 10 4 9 113 

Sep 0 93 2 16 5 21 137 

Oct 0 42 3 13 1 10 69 

Nov 0 9 0 4 3 2 18 

Dec 0 0 0 2 1 2 5 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

East Siberian Sea Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Operational hours for the East Siberian Sea in 2015 averaged 1,041 hrs/month, with a 

range of 0 hours in January, February, March, April, and June to 4,928 hours in 

September (see Appendix S63 for monthly operational hours by vessel type). With a 

coefficient of variation of 1.57, the East Siberian Sea had some of the highest month-tomonth operational hour variability in 2015 relative to the 14 other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Feb 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Mar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Apr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

May 0 11 0 0 0 0 11 

Jun 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Jul 0 404 0 80 33 459 976 

Aug 0 2185 271 355 143 459 3414 

Sep 0 2640 273 1121 276 617 4928 

Oct 0 1339 108 370 79 336 2232 

Nov 0 205 0 284 86 86 661 

Dec 0 0 0 137 80 55 272 

80
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

East Siberian Sea Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit distance for the East Siberian Sea in 2015 averaged 9,873 nm/month, with a range 

of 0 nm in January, February, March, April, and June to 47,123 nm in September (see 

Appendix S64 for monthly transit distance by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation 

of 1.57, the East Siberian Sea had some of the highest month-to-month transit distance 

variability in 2015 relative to the 14 other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Feb 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Mar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Apr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

May 0 90 0 0 0 0 90 

Jun 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Jul 0 3357 0 652 217 3117 7343 

Aug 0 20497 1724 2995 930 4375 30521 

Sep 0 25778 1736 10936 2287 6387 47124 

Oct 0 14085 840 4513 719 3090 23247 

Nov 0 2123 0 3303 791 1012 7229 

Dec 0 0 0 1554 755 612 2921 

81
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Greenland Sea Vessel Activity Synopsis

Surface Area and Sea Ice Extent: 

•	 4 of 14 for total amount of water surface area within the ARPA Arctic boundary
 

(1,163,300 km2)
 

•	 average sea ice extent ranged from 24% of the water surface area in September to

48% in February; average sea ice extent exceeded 25% of the water surface area for 

10 months, 50% for 0 months, and 75% for 0 months 

Unique Vessels: 

•	 4 of 14 for total number of unique vessels (507 vessels)

•	 vessel type class with the highest count of unique vessels (292 vessels) was Fishing

(see Appendix S65 for total unique vessel counts by vessel type*)

Transit Counts: 

•	 4 out of 14 for total number of transits (7,102 transits)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of transits (4,052 transits) was Fishing
 

(see Appendix S66 for total transit counts by vessel type*)
 

•	 vessel size class with the highest number of transits (3,159 transits) was 1000-4999

GT (see Appendix S66 for total transit counts by vessel size class)

•	 transit counts averaged 613 transits/month, with a range of 284 transits in

December to 1,077 transits in July (see Appendix S70 for monthly transit counts by

vessel type*)

Operational Hours: 

•	 4 out of 14 for total operational hours (175,558 hrs)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of operational hours (29,260 hrs) was

Fishing (see Appendix S67 for total operational hours by vessel type*)
 

•	 operational hours averaged 14,630 hrs/month, with a range of 7,419 hours in

December to 27,594 hours in September (see Appendix S71 for monthly

operational hours by vessel type*)

Transit Distance: 

•	 5 out of 14 for total transit distance (914,438 nm)

•	 vessel type class with the highest amount of transit distance (589,739 nm) was

Fishing (see Appendix S68 for total transit distance by vessel type*)
 

•	 transit distance averaged 76,203 nm/month, with a range of 34,631 nm in April to

143,009 nm in September (see Appendix S72 for monthly transit distance by vessel

type*)

Transit Density: 

•	 9 out of 14 for percent of water surface area exposed to vessel traffic (79.6%)

•	 7 out of 14 for average transit density (1.74 km/km2

)

•	 6 out of 14 for maximum transit density (103.97 km/km2

)

*supplemental appendices located at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/publications/techmemos.htm 

82
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Greenland Sea Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Fishing vessel type class logged the highest number of transits 

(4,052 transits) in the Greenland Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the highest 

number of transits were Stern Trawler, Fishing Vessel, and Passenger/Cruise with 1,870; 

1,217; and 1,150 transits, respectively (Appendix S66). Of the 7,102 total transits, the 

highest number (3,159 transits) was logged by vessels in the 1000-4999 GT vessel size 

class (Appendix S66). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 5% of the total 

transits. The flag countries that logged the highest number of transits in the Greenland 

Sea during 2015 were Iceland, Norway, and Russia with 2,891; 867; and 798 transits, 

respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 9 5 34 15 0 0 63 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 795 900 348 52 125 35 18 2273 

Fishing 2179 1843 30 0 0 0 0 4052 

Miscellaneous 134 274 95 0 45 0 0 548 

Offshore 2 78 0 0 0 0 0 80 

Tankers 0 55 15 2 14 0 0 86 

Totals: 3110 3159 493 88 199 35 18 7102 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

 Greenland Sea Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Fishing vessel type class logged the highest number of operational 

hours (132,947 hrs) in the Greenland Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the highest 

number of operational hours were Stern Trawler, Fishing Vessel, and Factory Stern 

Trawler with 71,194; 30,194; and 21,593 hours, respectively (Appendix S67). Of the 175,558 

total operational hours, the highest number (82,975 hrs) was logged by vessels in the 

1000-4999 GT vessel size class (Appendix S67). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 

accounted for 2% of the total operational hours. The flag countries that logged the 

highest number of operational hours in the Greenland Sea during 2015 were Iceland, 

Russia, and Norway with 93,251; 23,841; and 14,749 hours, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 127 42 217 455 0 0 841 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 7357 11843 3856 1627 760 364 84 25892 

Fishing 71052 61371 525 0 0 0 0 132947 

Miscellaneous 1854 8112 3423 720 0 0 0 14108 

Offshore 31 740 0 0 0 0 0 771 

Tankers 0 783 108 46 62 0 0 998 

Totals: 80293 82975 7954 2610 1278 364 84 175558 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Greenland Sea Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Fishing vessel type class logged the highest amount of transit 

distance (589,739 nm) in the Greenland Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the 

highest amount of transit distance were Stern Trawler, Factory Stern Trawler, and Fishing 

Vessel with 314,330; 117,611; and 112,325 nm, respectively (Appendix S68). Of the 914,438 

nm of total transit distance, the highest amount (492,101 nm) was logged by vessels in 

the 1000-4999 GT vessel size class (Appendix S68). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 

accounted for 5% of the total transit distance. The flag countries that logged the highest 

amount of transit distance in the Greenland Sea during 2015 were Iceland, Russia, and 

Norway with 359,776; 137,281; and 96,713 nm, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 4700 2136 452 1178 0 8466 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 1398 5763 10467 16522 32724 99578 46248 212700 

Fishing 0 0 0 0 3629 328205 257905 589739 

Miscellaneous 0 0 0 4963 21799 51106 10742 88609 

Offshore 0 0 0 0 0 5411 281 5692 

Tankers 0 0 680 568 1359 6624 0 9231 

Totals: 1398 5763 15847 24189 59963 492101 315176 914438 

85
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Greenland Sea Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit counts for the Greenland Sea in 2015 averaged 613 transits/month, with a range of 

284 transits in December to 1,077 transits in July (see Appendix S70 for monthly transit 

counts by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 0.48, the Greenland Sea had a 

low amount of month-to-month transit count variability in 2015 relative to the 14 other 

world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 1 40 449 21 0 4 515 

Feb 2 37 443 7 0 4 493 

Mar 0 49 304 18 0 7 378 

Apr 1 38 224 22 0 5 290 

May 4 122 163 17 7 6 319 

Jun 2 497 289 43 15 8 854 

Jul 5 573 342 127 15 15 1077 

Aug 15 458 361 140 12 12 998 

Sep 12 296 549 105 20 5 987 

Oct 12 100 496 35 12 7 662 

Nov 9 55 408 21 0 10 503 

Dec 1 51 217 11 0 4 284 

86
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Greenland Sea Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Operational hours for the Greenland Sea in 2015 averaged 14,630 hrs/month, with a range 

of 7,419 hours in December to 27,594 hours in September (see Appendix S71 for monthly 

operational hours by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 0.46, the Greenland 

Sea had a low amount of month-to-month operational hour variability in 2015 relative to 

the 14 other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 28 475 14678 359 0 41 15581 

Feb 4 396 9197 197 0 18 9812 

Mar 0 579 7108 302 0 49 8038 

Apr 1 341 6951 438 0 72 7804 

May 36 1158 5877 387 39 55 7551 

Jun 54 5612 6955 782 145 110 13657 

Jul 59 6698 9847 2371 125 152 19252 

Aug 178 5299 11742 3643 158 176 21197 

Sep 208 3483 19924 3759 190 31 27594 

Oct 128 912 17851 1347 114 73 20426 

Nov 116 498 16069 367 0 174 17224 

Dec 29 441 6746 156 0 48 7419 

87
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Greenland Sea Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit distance for the Greenland Sea in 2015 averaged 76,203 nm/month, with a range 

of 34,631 nm in April to 143,009 nm in September (see Appendix S72 for monthly transit 

distance by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 0.51, the Greenland Sea had a 

low amount of month-to-month transit distance variability in 2015 relative to the 14 other 

world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 221 3477 71348 2217 0 379 77642 

Feb 33 2110 42432 1631 0 140 46346 

Mar 0 4499 34756 1701 0 428 41384 

Apr 14 3248 27443 3350 0 576 34631 

May 341 9618 22860 2316 329 603 36067 

Jun 567 47831 30069 5724 1126 1218 86535 

Jul 550 57313 48387 14591 847 1526 123214 

Aug 1822 43147 54928 23508 1103 1712 126220 

Sep 2072 27201 89296 22635 1476 329 143009 

Oct 1311 6956 70457 8137 811 571 88243 

Nov 1194 4230 64516 2201 0 1276 73417 

Dec 341 3070 33247 597 0 474 37729 

88
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Kara Sea Vessel Activity Synopsis

Surface Area and Sea Ice Extent: 

•	 7 of 14 for total amount of water surface area within the ARPA Arctic boundary
 

(893,675 km2)
 

•	 average sea ice extent ranged from 5% of the water surface area in September to

96% in January, February, March, and April; average sea ice extent exceeded 25% of 

the water surface area for 10 months, 50% for 8 months, and 75% for 6 months 

Unique Vessels: 

•	 6 of 14 for total number of unique vessels (244 vessels)

•	 vessel type class with the highest count of unique vessels (99 vessels) was Dry

Cargo/Passenger (see Appendix S73 for total unique vessel counts by vessel type*)

Transit Counts: 

•	 5 out of 14 for total number of transits (3,757 transits)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of transits (1,518 transits) was

Miscellaneous (see Appendix S74 for total transit counts by vessel type*)
 

•	 vessel size class with the highest number of transits (1,201 transits) was <1000 GT
 

(see Appendix S74 for total transit counts by vessel size class)
 

•	 transit counts averaged 327 transits/month, with a range of 102 transits in February

to 1,030 transits in September (see Appendix S78 for monthly transit counts by

vessel type*)

Operational Hours: 

•	 5 out of 14 for total operational hours (129,620 hrs)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of operational hours (21,603 hrs) was

Miscellaneous (see Appendix S75 for total operational hours by vessel type*)
 

•	 operational hours averaged 10,802 hrs/month, with a range of 3,312 hours in

January to 32,676 hours in September (see Appendix S79 for monthly operational

hours by vessel type*)

Transit Distance: 

•	 4 out of 14 for total transit distance (922,083 nm)

•	 vessel type class with the highest amount of transit distance (348,315 nm) was

Miscellaneous (see Appendix S76 for total transit distance by vessel type*)
 

•	 transit distance averaged 76,840 nm/month, with a range of 26,298 nm in January

to 204,201 nm in August (see Appendix S80 for monthly transit distance by vessel

type*)

Transit Density: 

•	 7 out of 14 for percent of water surface area exposed to vessel traffic (85.1%)

•	 6 out of 14 for average transit density (2.11 km/km2

)

•	 3 out of 14 for maximum transit density (281.08 km/km2

)

*supplemental appendices located at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/publications/techmemos.htm 

89
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Kara Sea Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Miscellaneous vessel type class logged the highest number of 

transits (1,518 transits) in the Kara Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the highest 

number of transits were General Cargo Ship, Tug, and Stern Trawler with 816, 488, and 

318 transits, respectively (Appendix S74). Of the 3,757 total transits, the highest number 

(1,201 transits) was logged by vessels in the <1000 GT vessel size class (Appendix S74). 

Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 28% of the total transits. The flag 

countries that logged the highest number of transits in the Kara Sea during 2015 were 

Russia, Netherlands, and Belgium with 2,812; 213; and 194 transits, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 7 0 19 200 0 0 226 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 68 251 399 10 399 0 0 1127 

Fishing 363 16 0 0 0 0 0 379 

Miscellaneous 635 454 167 14 248 0 0 1518 

Offshore 135 88 2 0 0 0 0 225 

Tankers 0 93 39 0 150 0 0 282 

Totals: 1201 909 607 43 997 0 0 3757 

90
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Kara Sea Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Miscellaneous vessel type class logged the highest number of 

operational hours (62,163 hrs) in the Kara Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the 

highest number of operational hours were General Cargo Ship, Research Survey Vessel, 

and Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger with 27,565; 17,151; and 14,014 hours, respectively 

(Appendix S75). Of the 129,620 total operational hours, the highest number (42,142 hrs) 

was logged by vessels in the 10000-24999 GT vessel size class (Appendix S75). Vessels 

with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 35% of the total operational hours. The flag 

countries that logged the highest number of operational hours in the Kara Sea during 

2015 were Russia, Belgium, and Netherlands with 91,064; 10,720; and 6,954 hours, 

respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 55 0 4853 686 0 0 5595 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 584 9457 9815 15261 494 0 0 35611 

Fishing 10197 795 0 0 0 0 0 10992 

Miscellaneous 19128 19009 6256 15735 2036 0 0 62163 

Offshore 2563 1937 82 0 0 0 0 4583 

Tankers 0 2620 1764 6292 0 0 0 10676 

Totals: 32472 33873 17918 42142 3216 0 0 129620 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Kara Sea Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Miscellaneous vessel type class logged the highest amount of 

transit distance (348,315 nm) in the Kara Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the 

highest amount of transit distance were General Cargo Ship, Icebreaker, and Research 

Survey Vessel with 261,381; 90,131; and 89,377 nm, respectively (Appendix S76). Of the 

922,083 nm of total transit distance, the highest amount (375,412 nm) was logged by 

vessels in the 10000-24999 GT vessel size class (Appendix S76). Vessels with a gross 

tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 44% of the total transit distance. The flag countries that 

logged the highest amount of transit distance in the Kara Sea during 2015 were Russia, 

Belgium, and Netherlands with 692,762; 50,542; and 38,501 nm, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 8088 41669 0 466 0 50223 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 0 0 5416 156053 100012 66280 8288 336049 

Fishing 0 0 0 0 0 5135 50546 55681 

Miscellaneous 0 0 13246 113652 33929 96834 90654 348315 

Offshore 0 0 0 0 681 12864 12050 25596 

Tankers 0 0 0 64038 18172 24009 0 106219 

Totals: 0 0 26750 375412 152794 205589 161539 922083 

92
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Kara Sea Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit counts for the Kara Sea in 2015 averaged 327 transits/month, with a range of 102 

transits in February to 1,030 transits in September (see Appendix S78 for monthly transit 

counts by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 0.93, the Kara Sea had a 

moderate amount of month-to-month transit count variability in 2015 relative to the 14 

other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 14 54 0 23 0 13 104 

Feb 6 53 0 30 0 13 102 

Mar 14 46 0 41 0 19 120 

Apr 26 74 0 54 0 12 166 

May 25 60 0 48 0 13 146 

Jun 22 107 9 56 0 5 199 

Jul 19 110 73 168 25 26 421 

Aug 23 157 131 355 77 64 807 

Sep 18 198 132 510 100 72 1030 

Oct 19 114 50 238 23 23 467 

Nov 24 99 1 48 2 18 192 

Dec 25 97 0 29 3 18 172 

93
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Kara Sea Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Operational hours for the Kara Sea in 2015 averaged 10,802 hrs/month, with a range of 

3,312 hours in January to 32,676 hours in September (see Appendix S79 for monthly 

operational hours by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 1.02, the Kara Sea had 

a moderate amount of month-to-month operational hour variability in 2015 relative to the 

14 other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 176 1972 0 965 0 199 3312 

Feb 122 1670 0 1440 0 516 3748 

Mar 186 1821 0 1859 0 488 4354 

Apr 609 1870 0 2141 0 651 5272 

May 467 1409 0 1605 0 393 3874 

Jun 456 2028 47 838 0 102 3472 

Jul 703 3229 1741 7712 518 1130 15032 

Aug 684 5706 4011 18599 1129 2417 32546 

Sep 668 6611 3515 17248 1890 2744 32676 

Oct 558 4491 1633 7336 805 951 15773 

Nov 536 2616 46 1325 99 548 5170 

Dec 430 2187 0 1095 142 537 4390 

94
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Kara Sea Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit distance for the Kara Sea in 2015 averaged 76,840 nm/month, with a range of 

26,298 nm in January to 204,201 nm in August (see Appendix S80 for monthly transit 

distance by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 0.86, the Kara Sea had a 

moderate amount of month-to-month transit distance variability in 2015 relative to the 14 

other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 1355 16301 0 7023 0 1619 26298 

Feb 821 12876 0 10770 0 4037 28504 

Mar 1400 14186 0 12935 0 3201 31722 

Apr 5162 16538 0 17874 0 5371 44945 

May 4203 13606 0 13401 0 3628 34838 

Jun 3953 22214 345 6491 0 1095 34098 

Jul 6836 32469 9381 46242 4091 12333 111352 

Aug 6970 54487 18709 91891 5495 26648 204200 

Sep 6961 60448 16984 78625 8523 28627 200168 

Oct 4901 47342 10060 41633 5337 9130 118403 

Nov 4268 24160 202 11283 903 4960 45776 

Dec 3392 21422 0 10147 1246 5571 41778 

95
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Laptev Sea Vessel Activity Synopsis

Surface Area and Sea Ice Extent: 

•	 10 of 14 for total amount of water surface area within the ARPA Arctic boundary
 

(541,950 km2)
 

•	 average sea ice extent ranged from 5% of the water surface area in September to

96% in January, February, March, April, May, October, November, and December; 

average sea ice extent exceeded 25% of the water surface area for 10 months, 50% 

for 10 months, and 75% for 9 months 

Unique Vessels: 

•	 11 of 14 for total number of unique vessels (77 vessels)

•	 vessel type class with the highest count of unique vessels (43 vessels) was Dry

Cargo/Passenger (see Appendix S81 for total unique vessel counts by vessel type*)

Transit Counts: 

•	 11 out of 14 for total number of transits (548 transits)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of transits (349 transits) was Dry
 

Cargo/Passenger (see Appendix S82 for total transit counts by vessel type*)
 

•	 vessel size class with the highest number of transits (306 transits) was 1000-4999

GT (see Appendix S82 for total transit counts by vessel size class)

•	 transit counts averaged 48 transits/month, with a range of 0 transits in January,

February, March, April, and June to 197 transits in September (see Appendix S86

for monthly transit counts by vessel type*)

Operational Hours: 

•	 11 out of 14 for total operational hours (14,539 hrs)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of operational hours (2,423 hrs) was Dry

Cargo/Passenger (see Appendix S83 for total operational hours by vessel type*)

•	 operational hours averaged 1,212 hrs/month, with a range of 0 hours in January,

February, March, April, and June to 4,951 hours in September (see Appendix S87

for monthly operational hours by vessel type*)

Transit Distance: 

•	 11 out of 14 for total transit distance (129,414 nm)

•	 vessel type class with the highest amount of transit distance (69,256 nm) was Dry

Cargo/Passenger (see Appendix S84 for total transit distance by vessel type*)

•	 transit distance averaged 10,785 nm/month, with a range of 0 nm in January,

February, March, April, and June to 45,815 nm in September (see Appendix S88 for

monthly transit distance by vessel type*)

Transit Density: 

•	 10 out of 14 for percent of water surface area exposed to vessel traffic (79.3%)

•	 10 out of 14 for average transit density (0.62 km/km2)

•	 12 out of 14 for maximum transit density (10.52 km/km2

)

*supplemental appendices located at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/publications/techmemos.htm 

96
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Laptev Sea Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Dry Cargo/Passenger vessel type class logged the highest number of 

transits (349 transits) in the Laptev Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the highest 

number of transits were General Cargo Ship, Products Tanker, and Research Survey 

Vessel with 292, 53, and 48 transits, respectively (Appendix S82). Of the 548 total transits, 

the highest number (306 transits) was logged by vessels in the 1000-4999 GT vessel size 

class (Appendix S82). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 21% of the 

total transits. The flag countries that logged the highest number of transits in the Laptev 

Sea during 2015 were Russia, Netherlands, and Liberia with 517, 14, and 5 transits, 

respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 0 232 50 2 65 0 0 349 

Fishing 5 4 0 0 0 0 0 9 

Miscellaneous 12 25 28 0 19 0 0 84 

Offshore 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 9 

Tankers 0 36 30 0 28 0 0 94 

Totals: 17 306 108 2 115 0 0 548 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Laptev Sea Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Dry Cargo/Passenger vessel type class logged the highest number of 

operational hours (7,850 hrs) in the Laptev Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the 

highest number of operational hours were General Cargo Ship, Research Survey Vessel, 

and Passenger/Cruise with 5,930; 1,674; and 984 hours, respectively (Appendix S83). Of 

the 14,539 total operational hours, the highest number (6,753 hrs) was logged by vessels 

in the 1000-4999 GT vessel size class (Appendix S83). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 

10,000 accounted for 28% of the total operational hours. The flag countries that logged 

the highest number of operational hours in the Laptev Sea during 2015 were Russia, 

Netherlands, and Panama with 13,433; 371; and 190 hours, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 0 100 0 0 0 100 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 0 4441 1452 1855 102 0 0 7850 

Fishing 351 406 0 0 0 0 0 757 

Miscellaneous 329 948 721 1046 0 0 0 3044 

Offshore 0 507 0 0 0 0 0 507 

Tankers 0 452 866 963 0 0 0 2281 

Totals: 680 6753 3039 3964 102 0 0 14539 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Laptev Sea Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Dry Cargo/Passenger vessel type class logged the highest amount of 

transit distance (69,256 nm) in the Laptev Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the 

highest amount of transit distance were General Cargo Ship, Research Survey Vessel, and 

Icebreaker with 48,717; 13,342; and 10,273 nm, respectively (Appendix S84). Of the 129,414 

nm of total transit distance, the highest amount (51,174 nm) was logged by vessels in the 

1000-4999 GT vessel size class (Appendix S84). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 

accounted for 33% of the total transit distance. The flag countries that logged the highest 

amount of transit distance in the Laptev Sea during 2015 were Russia, Netherlands, and 

Liberia with 117,723; 4,607; and 1,676 nm, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 0 954 0 0 0 954 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 0 0 1114 20021 15478 32643 0 69256 

Fishing 0 0 0 0 0 2599 2236 4835 

Miscellaneous 0 0 0 11300 5944 7373 2605 27221 

Offshore 0 0 0 0 0 4488 0 4488 

Tankers 0 0 0 9893 8696 4072 0 22661 

Totals: 0 0 1114 42167 30118 51174 4841 129414 

99
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Laptev Sea Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit counts for the Laptev Sea in 2015 averaged 48 transits/month, with a range of 0 

transits in January, February, March, April, and June to 197 transits in September (see 

Appendix S86 for monthly transit counts by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation 

of 1.56, the Laptev Sea had some of the highest month-to-month transit count variability 

in 2015 relative to the 14 other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Feb 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Mar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Apr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

May 0 20 0 0 0 0 20 

Jun 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Jul 0 44 0 2 0 7 53 

Aug 0 126 2 29 1 36 194 

Sep 3 107 4 42 4 37 197 

Oct 0 59 4 13 2 11 89 

Nov 0 5 0 3 1 6 15 

Dec 0 0 0 1 2 0 3 

100
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Laptev Sea Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Operational hours for the Laptev Sea in 2015 averaged 1,212 hrs/month, with a range of 0 

hours in January, February, March, April, and June to 4,951 hours in September (see 

Appendix S87 for monthly operational hours by vessel type). With a coefficient of 

variation of 1.49, the Laptev Sea had a high amount of month-to-month operational hour 

variability in 2015 relative to the 14 other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Feb 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Mar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Apr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

May 0 534 0 0 0 0 534 

Jun 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Jul 0 624 0 125 0 161 910 

Aug 0 2656 226 574 90 770 4316 

Sep 100 2337 284 1176 187 867 4951 

Oct 0 1483 247 789 89 294 2902 

Nov 0 217 0 334 61 188 801 

Dec 0 0 0 45 80 0 125 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Laptev Sea Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit distance for the Laptev Sea in 2015 averaged 10,785 nm/month, with a range of 0 

nm in January, February, March, April, and June to 45,815 nm in September (see 

Appendix S88 for monthly transit distance by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation 

of 1.49, the Laptev Sea had a high amount of month-to-month transit distance variability 

in 2015 relative to the 14 other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Feb 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Mar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Apr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

May 0 5264 0 0 0 0 5264 

Jun 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Jul 0 4571 0 1017 0 1427 7015 

Aug 0 22423 1398 4708 654 7440 36623 

Sep 954 21198 1999 10704 1697 9263 45815 

Oct 0 13598 1438 6561 814 2833 25244 

Nov 0 2202 0 3640 565 1698 8105 

Dec 0 0 0 592 757 0 1349 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Northwestern Passages Vessel Activity Synopsis

Surface Area and Sea Ice Extent: 

•	 6 of 14 for total amount of water surface area within the ARPA Arctic boundary
 

(957,425 km2)
 

•	 average sea ice extent ranged from 29% of the water surface area in September to

88% in November; average sea ice extent exceeded 25% of the water surface area 

for 12 months, 50% for 11 months, and 75% for 9 months 

Unique Vessels: 

•	 13 of 14 for total number of unique vessels (53 vessels)

•	 vessel type class with the highest count of unique vessels (18 vessels) was Dry

Cargo/Passenger (see Appendix S89 for total unique vessel counts by vessel type*)

Transit Counts: 

•	 13 out of 14 for total number of transits (443 transits)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of transits (170 transits) was

Miscellaneous (see Appendix S90 for total transit counts by vessel type*)
 

•	 vessel size class with the highest number of transits (143 transits) was 5000-9999

GT (see Appendix S90 for total transit counts by vessel size class)
 

•	 transit counts averaged 38 transits/month, with a range of 0 transits in January,

February, March, April, May, June, November, and December to 213 transits in

August and September (see Appendix S94 for monthly transit counts by vessel

type*)

Operational Hours: 

•	 13 out of 14 for total operational hours (8,669 hrs)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of operational hours (1,445 hrs) was

Miscellaneous (see Appendix S91 for total operational hours by vessel type*)
 

•	 operational hours averaged 722 hrs/month, with a range of 0 hours in January,

February, March, April, May, June, November, and December to 4,446 hours in

September (see Appendix S95 for monthly operational hours by vessel type*)

Transit Distance: 

•	 13 out of 14 for total transit distance (77,466 nm)

•	 vessel type class with the highest amount of transit distance (34,347 nm) was

Miscellaneous (see Appendix S92 for total transit distance by vessel type*)
 

•	 transit distance averaged 6,455 nm/month, with a range of 0 nm in January,

February, March, April, May, June, November, and December to 41,726 nm in

September (see Appendix S96 for monthly transit distance by vessel type*)

Transit Density: 

•	 13 out of 14 for percent of water surface area exposed to vessel traffic (37.2%)

•	 12 out of 14 for average transit density (0.39 km/km2)

•	 14 out of 14 for maximum transit density (5.10 km/km2

)

*supplemental appendices located at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/publications/techmemos.htm 

103
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Northwestern Passages Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Miscellaneous vessel type class logged the highest number of 

transits (170 transits) in the Northwestern Passages during 2015. The vessel types with 

the highest number of transits were Passenger/Cruise, Bulk Carrier, and Tug with 117, 60, 

and 49 transits, respectively (Appendix S90). Of the 443 total transits, the highest 

number (143 transits) was logged by vessels in the 5000-9999 GT vessel size class 

(Appendix S90). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 34% of the total 

transits. The flag countries that logged the highest number of transits in the 

Northwestern Passages during 2015 were Canada, Bahamas, and Panama with 246, 80, 

and 27 transits, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 0 60 0 0 0 60 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 0 30 81 0 57 0 0 168 

Fishing 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 

Miscellaneous 78 37 46 0 9 0 0 170 

Offshore 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 5 

Tankers 0 0 16 4 19 0 0 39 

Totals: 80 71 143 64 85 0 0 443 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Northwestern Passages Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Miscellaneous vessel type class logged the highest number of 

operational hours (4,502 hrs) in the Northwestern Passages during 2015. The vessel types 

with the highest number of operational hours were Passenger/Cruise, Icebreaker, and 

Tug with 1,649; 1,170; and 965 hours, respectively (Appendix S91). Of the 8,669 total 

operational hours, the highest number (3,380 hrs) was logged by vessels in the 5000­

9999 GT vessel size class (Appendix S91). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 

accounted for 24% of the total operational hours. The flag countries that logged the 

highest number of operational hours in the Northwestern Passages during 2015 were 

Canada, Bahamas, and Russia with 5,922; 1,046; and 450 hours, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 0 0 480 0 0 480 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 0 403 1465 784 0 0 0 2652 

Fishing 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 7 

Miscellaneous 1680 922 1629 272 0 0 0 4502 

Offshore 5 187 0 0 0 0 0 193 

Tankers 0 0 286 462 87 0 0 835 

Totals: 1685 1519 3380 1517 567 0 0 8669 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

 Northwestern Passages Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Miscellaneous vessel type class logged the highest amount of 

transit distance (34,347 nm) in the Northwestern Passages during 2015. The vessel types 

with the highest amount of transit distance were Passenger/Cruise, Icebreaker, and 

Chemical/Products Tanker with 16,184; 12,211; and 9,448 nm, respectively (Appendix S92). 

Of the 77,466 nm of total transit distance, the highest amount (33,684 nm) was logged 

by vessels in the 5000-9999 GT vessel size class (Appendix S92). Vessels with a gross 

tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 28% of the total transit distance. The flag countries that 

logged the highest amount of transit distance in the Northwestern Passages during 2015 

were Canada, Bahamas, and France with 51,270; 10,251; and 3,998 nm, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 3540 0 0 0 0 3540 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 0 0 0 8452 15893 3751 0 28096 

Fishing 0 0 0 0 0 75 0 75 

Miscellaneous 0 0 0 2711 14430 6479 10727 34347 

Offshore 0 0 0 0 0 1283 39 1322 

Tankers 0 0 1119 5605 3361 0 0 10086 

Totals: 0 0 4659 16769 33684 11589 10766 77466 

106
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Northwestern Passages Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit counts for the Northwestern Passages in 2015 averaged 38 transits/month, with a 

range of 0 transits in January, February, March, April, May, June, November, and 

December to 213 transits in August and September (see Appendix S94 for monthly transit 

counts by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 2.18, the Northwestern Passages 

had the highest month-to-month transit count variability in 2015 relative to the 14 other 

world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Feb 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Mar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Apr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

May 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Jun 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Jul 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 

Aug 41 84 1 74 5 8 213 

Sep 17 90 0 80 0 26 213 

Oct 2 1 0 16 0 5 24 

Nov 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Dec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

107
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Northwestern Passages Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Operational hours for the Northwestern Passages in 2015 averaged 722 hrs/month, with a 

range of 0 hours in January, February, March, April, May, June, November, and December 

to 4,446 hours in September (see Appendix S95 for monthly operational hours by vessel 

type). With a coefficient of variation of 2.12, the Northwestern Passages had the highest 

month-to-month operational hour variability in 2015 relative to the 14 other world seas 

analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Feb 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Mar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Apr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

May 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Jun 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Jul 0 0 0 53 0 0 53 

Aug 314 1162 7 1620 193 116 3412 

Sep 137 1482 0 2227 0 600 4446 

Oct 28 8 0 602 0 119 758 

Nov 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Dec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

108
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Northwestern Passages Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit distance for the Northwestern Passages in 2015 averaged 6,455 nm/month, with a 

range of 0 nm in January, February, March, April, May, June, November, and December 

to 41,726 nm in September (see Appendix S96 for monthly transit distance by vessel 

type). With a coefficient of variation of 2.13, the Northwestern Passages had the highest 

month-to-month transit distance variability in 2015 relative to the 14 other world seas 

analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Feb 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Mar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Apr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

May 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Jun 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Jul 0 0 0 315 0 0 315 

Aug 2129 11214 75 11670 1322 1485 27895 

Sep 1166 16759 0 16746 0 7056 41727 

Oct 245 124 0 5616 0 1545 7530 

Nov 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Dec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Norwegian Sea Vessel Activity Synopsis

Surface Area and Sea Ice Extent: 

•	 5 of 14 for total amount of water surface area within the ARPA Arctic boundary
 

(958,750 km2)
 

•	 average sea ice extent ranged from 0% of the water surface area in June, July,

August, September, October, November, and December to 0% in February; average 

sea ice extent exceeded 25% of the water surface area for 0 months, 50% for 0 

months, and 75% for 0 months 

Unique Vessels: 

•	 2 of 14 for total number of unique vessels (2,130 vessels)

•	 vessel type class with the highest count of unique vessels (669 vessels) was Dry

Cargo/Passenger (see Appendix S97 for total unique vessel counts by vessel type*)

Transit Counts: 

•	 1 out of 14 for total number of transits (56,952 transits)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of transits (29,712 transits) was Dry
 

Cargo/Passenger (see Appendix S98 for total transit counts by vessel type*)
 

•	 vessel size class with the highest number of transits (28,862 transits) was <1000 GT

(see Appendix S98 for total transit counts by vessel size class)

•	 transit counts averaged 4,856 transits/month, with a range of 3,880 transits in

December to 6,078 transits in March (see Appendix S102 for monthly transit counts

by vessel type*)

Operational Hours: 

•	 3 out of 14 for total operational hours (1,051,006 hrs)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of operational hours (175,168 hrs) was

Fishing (see Appendix S99 for total operational hours by vessel type*)
 

•	 operational hours averaged 87,584 hrs/month, with a range of 66,263 hours in

December to 119,135 hours in March (see Appendix S103 for monthly operational

hours by vessel type*)

Transit Distance: 

•	 2 out of 14 for total transit distance (7,227,109 nm)

•	 vessel type class with the highest amount of transit distance (3,002,488 nm) was

Fishing (see Appendix S100 for total transit distance by vessel type*)
 

•	 transit distance averaged 602,259 nm/month, with a range of 481,407 nm in

December to 739,948 nm in March (see Appendix S104 for monthly transit distance

by vessel type*)

Transit Density: 

•	 1 out of 14 for percent of water surface area exposed to vessel traffic (99.8%)

•	 1 out of 14 for average transit density (12.07 km/km2)

•	 1 out of 14 for maximum transit density (581.44 km/km2

)

*supplemental appendices located at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/publications/techmemos.htm 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Norwegian Sea Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Dry Cargo/Passenger vessel type class logged the highest number of 

transits (29,712 transits) in the Norwegian Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the 

highest number of transits were Passenger/Ro-Ro Ship (Vehicles), Fishing Vessel, and 

General Cargo Ship with 11,656; 8,747; and 7,468 transits, respectively (Appendix S98). Of 

the 56,952 total transits, the highest number (28,862 transits) was logged by vessels in 

the <1000 GT vessel size class (Appendix S98). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 

accounted for 8% of the total transits. The flag countries that logged the highest number 

of transits in the Norwegian Sea during 2015 were Norway, Russia, and Malta with 43,251; 

3,062; and 951 transits, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000 -24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 6 252 183 636 350 216 33 1676 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 13141 12472 2209 150 1576 125 39 29712 

Fishing 13311 5517 188 0 0 0 0 19016 

Miscellaneous 2137 637 180 5 34 0 0 2993 

Offshore 135 958 570 0 107 3 2 1775 

Tankers 132 541 106 158 541 156 146 1780 

Totals: 28862 20377 3436 949 2608 500 220 56952 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Norwegian Sea Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Fishing vessel type class logged the highest number of operational 

hours (546,063 hrs) in the Norwegian Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the highest 

number of operational hours were Stern Trawler, Fishing Vessel, and General Cargo Ship 

with 237,583; 152,385; and 129,369 hours, respectively (Appendix S99). Of the 1,051,006 

total operational hours, the highest number (494,814 hrs) was logged by vessels in the 

1000-4999 GT vessel size class (Appendix S99). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 

accounted for 11% of the total operational hours. The flag countries that logged the 

highest number of operational hours in the Norwegian Sea during 2015 were Norway, 

Russia, and Malta with 557,721; 233,202; and 24,417 hours, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 111 6091 2127 11893 23283 5228 581 49314 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 81637 180489 37775 30950 2506 1752 666 335775 

Fishing 266653 269646 9764 0 0 0 0 546063 

Miscellaneous 25629 16006 8198 3305 152 0 0 53290 

Offshore 1811 12524 5854 976 0 10 48 21224 

Tankers 2268 10057 2632 12988 5729 6054 5612 45339 

Totals: 378109 494814 66349 60112 31670 13044 6908 1051006 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Norwegian Sea Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Fishing vessel type class logged the highest amount of transit 

distance (3,002,488 nm) in the Norwegian Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the 

highest amount of transit distance were Stern Trawler, General Cargo Ship, and Fishing 

Vessel with 1,203,320; 1,144,455; and 828,402 nm, respectively (Appendix S100). Of the 

7,227,109 nm of total transit distance, the highest amount (3,200,930 nm) was logged by 

vessels in the 1000-4999 GT vessel size class (Appendix S100). Vessels with a gross 

tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 17% of the total transit distance. The flag countries that 

logged the highest amount of transit distance in the Norwegian Sea during 2015 were 

Norway, Russia, and Malta with 3,631,909; 1,234,870; and 254,979 nm, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 6267 52871 254535 125083 24984 58440 1017 523196 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 11691 26064 35885 311696 356033 1341041 625600 2708010 

Fishing 0 0 0 0 62512 1501516 1438460 3002488 

Miscellaneous 0 0 1790 20896 45736 111027 157245 336694 

Offshore 471 103 0 10608 50415 93175 11461 166232 

Tankers 67642 65798 62000 155778 25604 95732 17935 490489 

Totals: 86069 144836 354211 624061 565283 3200930 2251718 7227109 

113
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Norwegian Sea Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit counts for the Norwegian Sea in 2015 averaged 4,856 transits/month, with a 

range of 3,880 transits in December to 6,078 transits in March (see Appendix S102 for 

monthly transit counts by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 0.1, the 

Norwegian Sea had the lowest month-to-month transit count variability in 2015 relative to 

the 14 other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 132 2250 1950 241 67 153 4793 

Feb 137 2007 1946 186 117 145 4538 

Mar 145 2446 2926 294 121 146 6078 

Apr 124 2339 1939 264 150 152 4968 

May 159 2616 1692 238 210 138 5053 

Jun 127 2798 1583 254 169 136 5067 

Jul 151 2876 1177 279 145 167 4795 

Aug 145 2742 1433 247 155 210 4932 

Sep 161 2553 1407 251 214 165 4751 

Oct 158 2647 1372 309 171 141 4798 

Nov 138 2405 1500 269 161 148 4621 

Dec 152 2332 920 220 121 135 3880 

114
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Norwegian Sea Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Operational hours for the Norwegian Sea in 2015 averaged 87,584 hrs/month, with a 

range of 66,263 hours in December to 119,135 hours in March (see Appendix S103 for 

monthly operational hours by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 0.16, the 

Norwegian Sea had the lowest month-to-month operational hour variability in 2015 

relative to the 14 other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 4371 26462 58301 3019 598 3868 96617 

Feb 3993 22188 59815 2556 1216 4047 93815 

Mar 4926 28325 75862 4411 1244 4368 119135 

Apr 3613 26769 57906 5083 1978 3745 99093 

May 4156 28489 54155 5557 2573 3437 98368 

Jun 3260 31407 41240 5670 1987 3222 86786 

Jul 3948 33352 30986 6028 2288 3640 80242 

Aug 3765 30343 33830 5020 1820 4281 79061 

Sep 4060 27003 36249 4979 2432 4007 78730 

Oct 4669 27941 36060 5166 1873 3472 79181 

Nov 4152 26924 33708 3414 2021 3494 73714 

Dec 4403 26572 27951 2385 1194 3758 66263 

115
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Norwegian Sea Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit distance for the Norwegian Sea in 2015 averaged 602,259 nm/month, with a range 

of 481,407 nm in December to 739,948 nm in March (see Appendix S104 for monthly 

transit distance by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 0.11, the Norwegian Sea 

had the lowest month-to-month transit distance variability in 2015 relative to the 14 other 

world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 41618 205574 295905 18830 4382 40334 606643 

Feb 38438 167630 292506 15472 8619 38753 561418 

Mar 46901 226026 388451 25828 9851 42891 739948 

Apr 36769 211620 284145 30383 15377 41192 619486 

May 46328 233769 294115 32057 22014 40266 668549 

Jun 36002 264048 241087 34406 15666 37375 628584 

Jul 45654 279202 193916 37958 16682 42354 615766 

Aug 44822 247079 205961 32723 13726 49399 593710 

Sep 46148 223687 215801 29757 17234 44665 577292 

Oct 51151 223733 224688 37690 14932 37932 590126 

Nov 45053 215162 203882 25773 17173 37135 544178 

Dec 44312 210479 162031 15818 10574 38193 481407 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

White Sea Vessel Activity Synopsis

Surface Area and Sea Ice Extent: 

•	 15 of 14 for total amount of water surface area within the ARPA Arctic boundary
 

(32,675 km2)
 

•	 average sea ice extent ranged from 0% of the water surface area in July, August,
 

and September to 85% in February; average sea ice extent exceeded 25% of the 

water surface area for 4 months, 50% for 3 months, and 75% for 3 months
 

Unique Vessels: 

•	 5 of 14 for total number of unique vessels (269 vessels)

•	 vessel type class with the highest count of unique vessels (146 vessels) was Dry

Cargo/Passenger (see Appendix S105 for total unique vessel counts by vessel

type*)

Transit Counts: 

•	 7 out of 14 for total number of transits (2,140 transits)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of transits (1,194 transits) was Dry
 

Cargo/Passenger (see Appendix S106 for total transit counts by vessel type*)
 

•	 vessel size class with the highest number of transits (1,033 transits) was 1000-4999

GT (see Appendix S106 for total transit counts by vessel size class)

•	 transit counts averaged 180 transits/month, with a range of 120 transits in January

to 250 transits in July and August (see Appendix S110 for monthly transit counts by

vessel type*)

Operational Hours: 

•	 10 out of 14 for total operational hours (22,592 hrs)

•	 vessel type class with the highest number of operational hours (3,765 hrs) was Dry

Cargo/Passenger (see Appendix S107 for total operational hours by vessel type*)

•	 operational hours averaged 1,883 hrs/month, with a range of 1,135 hours in January

to 3,018 hours in August (see Appendix S111 for monthly operational hours by

vessel type*)

Transit Distance: 

•	 7 out of 14 for total transit distance (211,693 nm)

•	 vessel type class with the highest amount of transit distance (123,980 nm) was Dry

Cargo/Passenger (see Appendix S108 for total transit distance by vessel type*)

•	 transit distance averaged 17,641 nm/month, with a range of 10,919 nm in February

to 26,990 nm in July (see Appendix S112 for monthly transit distance by vessel

type*)

Transit Density: 

•	 3 out of 14 for percent of water surface area exposed to vessel traffic (97.1%)

•	 2 out of 14 for average transit density (11.88 km/km2)

•	 5 out of 14 for maximum transit density (104.38 km/km2

)

*supplemental appendices located at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/publications/techmemos.htm 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

White Sea Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Dry Cargo/Passenger vessel type class logged the highest number of 

transits (1,194 transits) in the White Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the highest 

number of transits were General Cargo Ship, Bulk Carrier, and Chemical/Products Tanker 

with 1,057; 203; and 162 transits, respectively (Appendix S106). Of the 2,140 total transits, 

the highest number (1,033 transits) was logged by vessels in the 1000-4999 GT vessel size 

class (Appendix S106). Vessels with a gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 27% of the 

total transits. The flag countries that logged the highest number of transits in the White 

Sea during 2015 were Russia, Netherlands, and Cyprus with 1,583; 123; and 88 transits, 

respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 45 0 13 190 0 0 248 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 5 716 277 4 190 2 0 1194 

Fishing 104 52 0 0 0 0 0 156 

Miscellaneous 75 48 38 0 13 0 0 174 

Offshore 22 5 0 0 0 0 0 27 

Tankers 0 167 15 0 159 0 0 341 

Totals: 206 1033 330 17 552 2 0 2140 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

White Sea Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Dry Cargo/Passenger vessel type class logged the highest number of 

operational hours (12,687 hrs) in the White Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the 

highest number of operational hours were General Cargo Ship, Bulk Carrier, and 

Chemical/Products Tanker with 11,504; 1,618; and 1,348 hours, respectively (Appendix 

S107). Of the 22,592 total operational hours, the highest number (12,067 hrs) was logged 

by vessels in the 1000-4999 GT vessel size class (Appendix S107). Vessels with a gross 

tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 21% of the total operational hours. The flag countries that 

logged the highest number of operational hours in the White Sea during 2015 were 

Russia, Netherlands, and Malta with 17,588; 1,192; and 760 hours, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 659 0 1535 83 0 0 2277 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 43 8240 2741 1630 28 6 0 12687 

Fishing 1205 954 0 0 0 0 0 2158 

Miscellaneous 1063 430 428 102 0 0 0 2024 

Offshore 197 49 0 0 0 0 0 246 

Tankers 0 1735 135 1329 0 0 0 3200 

Totals: 2508 12067 3305 4597 111 6 0 22592 

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2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

White Sea Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Gross Tonnage Class 

As an aggregate, the Dry Cargo/Passenger vessel type class logged the highest amount of 

transit distance (123,980 nm) in the White Sea during 2015. The vessel types with the 

highest amount of transit distance were General Cargo Ship, Bulk Carrier, and 

Chemical/Products Tanker with 110,953; 16,502; and 15,287 nm, respectively (Appendix 

S108). Of the 211,693 nm of total transit distance, the highest amount (104,735 nm) was 

logged by vessels in the 1000-4999 GT vessel size class (Appendix S108). Vessels with a 

gross tonnage ≥ 10,000 accounted for 25% of the total transit distance. The flag countries 

that logged the highest amount of transit distance in the White Sea during 2015 were 

Russia, Netherlands, and Cyprus with 157,606; 12,625; and 8,191 nm, respectively. 

Vessel Type Class <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 >=100000 Totals 

Bulk Carriers 0 0 1010 15492 0 5037 0 21539 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 0 95 412 19180 29593 74248 452 123980 

Fishing 0 0 0 0 0 5200 10206 15406 

Miscellaneous 0 0 0 1331 3895 3966 7542 16734 

Offshore 0 0 0 0 0 500 1165 1665 

Tankers 0 0 0 15212 1371 15785 0 32369 

Totals: 0 95 1422 51216 34859 104735 19365 211693 

120
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

White Sea Transit Counts 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit counts for the White Sea in 2015 averaged 180 transits/month, with a range of 120 

transits in January to 250 transits in July and August (see Appendix S110 for monthly 

transit counts by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 0.28, the White Sea had 

some of the lowest month-to-month transit count variability in 2015 relative to the 14 

other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 22 53 2 8 2 33 120 

Feb 15 80 1 10 0 36 142 

Mar 30 95 2 11 1 22 161 

Apr 23 90 5 11 1 30 160 

May 25 85 13 6 3 17 149 

Jun 18 104 16 15 3 27 183 

Jul 24 143 28 23 3 29 250 

Aug 20 141 22 29 2 36 250 

Sep 25 141 23 17 1 37 244 

Oct 27 115 26 29 4 35 236 

Nov 9 80 18 10 5 24 146 

Dec 11 77 9 8 2 16 123 

121
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

White Sea Operational Hours 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Operational hours for the White Sea in 2015 averaged 1,883 hrs/month, with a range of 

1,135 hours in January to 3,018 hours in August (see Appendix S111 for monthly 

operational hours by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 0.39, the White Sea 

had a low amount of month-to-month operational hour variability in 2015 relative to the 

14 other world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 194 558 21 49 6 307 1135 

Feb 129 856 1 156 0 340 1483 

Mar 233 906 25 53 2 199 1417 

Apr 188 797 56 101 4 280 1426 

May 208 789 123 75 10 160 1366 

Jun 146 1100 172 164 17 242 1842 

Jul 279 1649 308 360 34 287 2916 

Aug 223 1579 536 324 27 328 3018 

Sep 266 1709 384 246 2 331 2939 

Oct 260 1193 277 368 52 364 2515 

Nov 72 793 161 76 84 207 1393 

Dec 78 759 93 52 8 154 1144 

122
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

White Sea Transit Distance 

by Vessel Type Class and Month 

Transit distance for the White Sea in 2015 averaged 17,641 nm/month, with a range of 

10,919 nm in February to 26,990 nm in July (see Appendix S112 for monthly transit 

distance by vessel type). With a coefficient of variation of 0.35, the White Sea had a low 

amount of month-to-month transit distance variability in 2015 relative to the 14 other 

world seas analyzed. 

Month Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore Tankers Totals 

Jan 1734 5756 219 401 23 3372 11505 

Feb 1008 6185 8 944 0 2773 10918 

Mar 2188 8782 223 403 8 1994 13598 

Apr 1935 8819 539 832 8 3173 15306 

May 2135 8986 1211 711 36 1871 14950 

Jun 1550 11435 1678 1462 48 2615 18788 

Jul 2459 16279 2477 2723 301 2751 26990 

Aug 1986 14739 2271 3009 228 3323 25556 

Sep 2458 15529 2356 2074 17 3374 25808 

Oct 2466 11409 2233 3110 482 3222 22922 

Nov 753 8065 1387 628 450 2164 13447 

Dec 866 7996 804 438 64 1735 11903 

123
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

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Appendices
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Appendix 1.	 Counts and gross tonnage statistics (average, minimum, and maximum) for vessels 

operating in the Arctic Region during 2015. 

Vessel Type Class Vessel Type Count Gross Tonnage 

Avg Min Max 

Bulk Carriers 

Bulk Carrier 1555 39307 3883 108051 

Bulk Carrier, Self-discharging 9 24979 14145 55695 

Cement Carrier 11 5091 624 11251 

Limestone Carrier 1 3092 3092 3092 

Ore Carrier 1 91563 91563 91563 

Ore/Oil Carrier 4 2614 2613 2615 

Wood Chips Carrier 14 41289 36823 49718 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 

Container Ship (Fully Cellular) 598 71937 5333 153666 

Deck Cargo Ship 4 597 473 968 

General Cargo Ship 558 5452 218 38226 

General Cargo Ship (with Ro-Ro facility) 8 14383 9984 18574 

General Cargo Ship, Self-discharging 2 1550 1550 1550 

General Cargo/Passenger Ship 9 2311 199 6261 

Heavy Load Carrier 2 15226 14462 15989 

Heavy Load Carrier, semi submersible 6 38270 15382 91784 

Landing Craft 11 517 196 907 

Livestock Carrier 1 3013 3013 3013 

Nuclear Fuel Carrier 3 3244 1000 5806 

Open Hatch Cargo Ship 54 27474 15861 44684 

Palletised Cargo Ship 10 1893 486 2854 

Passenger Ship 37 528 106 4575 

Passenger/Cruise 84 35973 140 137936 

Passenger/Ro-Ro Ship (Vehicles) 66 3344 154 16151 

Refrigerated Cargo Ship 142 4981 498 13496 

Ro-Ro Cargo Ship 17 11325 1253 24688 

Vehicles Carrier 159 54833 31367 75251 

Fishing 

Factory Stern Trawler 184 3502 191 8210 

Fish Carrier 23 2396 190 12410 

Fish Factory Ship 20 6301 199 32096 

Fish Farm Support Vessel 6 938 172 2145 

Fishery Patrol Vessel 2 904 657 1150 

Fishery Research Vessel 10 1334 332 2545 

Fishing Vessel 542 640 101 4377 

Live Fish Carrier (Well Boat) 33 1058 103 3893 

Seal Catcher 4 561 300 807 

Stern Trawler 379 1212 123 9494 

Trawler 54 1289 110 5192 

Miscellaneous 

Articulated Pusher Tug 2 378 341 416 

Bunkering Tanker 3 827 702 895 

Buoy & Lighthouse Tender 3 461 187 642 

Buoy Tender 6 2330 569 3812 

Cable Layer 4 4820 407 11242 

Crane Vessel 3 16740 859 47426 

Cutter Suction Dredger 1 8082 8082 8082 

Hopper, Motor 10 1180 264 2427 

Hopper/Dredger (unspecified) 1 407 407 407 

Icebreaker 23 9703 1960 23439 

Icebreaker/Research 4 9686 5910 12711 

Patrol Vessel 14 2138 139 6375 

Pollution Control Vessel 4 618 231 1058 

130
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Appendix 1.	 Counts and gross tonnage statistics (average, minimum, and maximum) for vessels 

operating in the Arctic Region during 2015 (continued) 

Vessel Type Class Vessel Type Count Gross Tonnage 

Avg Min Max 

Miscellaneous 

(continued) 

Pusher Tug 3 609 268 783 

Research Survey Vessel 74 2921 101 10732 

Salvage Ship 5 2047 111 4766 

Search & Rescue Vessel 2 120 103 136 

Suction Dredger 2 384 335 433 

Suction Hopper Dredger 1 479 479 479 

Supply Tender 1 412 412 412 

Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger 11 8440 2276 28634 

Training Ship 1 448 448 448 

Tug 150 536 100 5871 

Utility Vessel 4 281 220 406 

Waste Disposal Vessel 2 864 803 926 

Work/Repair Vessel 1 1239 1239 1239 

Offshore 

Anchor Handling Tug Supply 46 4820 731 12892 

Crew/Supply Vessel 2 218 150 285 

Diving Support Vessel 3 8746 361 18640 

Drilling Ship 3 5678 780 13485 

FPSO, Oil 1 187864 187864 187864 

FSO, Oil 2 113154 37581 188728 

Offshore Support Vessel 12 10027 3923 18151 

Offshore Tug/Supply Ship 10 2283 228 6251 

Pipe Burying Vessel 1 19950 19950 19950 

Pipe Layer 3 37044 5913 94855 

Platform Supply Ship 32 3573 464 6545 

Standby Safety Vessel 8 1063 333 4462 

Tankers 

Asphalt/Bitumen Tanker 4 6644 4025 12959 

Chemical Tanker 17 5787 498 22028 

Chemical/Products Tanker 176 15739 655 30641 

Crude Oil Tanker 29 65331 38832 85421 

Crude/Oil Products Tanker 30 54787 11290 84598 

LNG Tanker 17 106354 97741 121597 

LPG Tanker 12 21074 1687 37366 

Products Tanker 61 14910 499 66919 

Shuttle Tanker 8 58473 49597 80850 

Tanker (unspecified) 1 678 678 678 

Vegetable Oil Tanker 1 1037 1037 1037 

131
 
 

 

 

Appendix 2.	 January (left) and February (right) 2015 transits and sea ice extent in the Arctic region. Transits are sym

transits from the different vessel type classes overlap, only the uppermost transit will be visible). 

class and layered in following order: Offshore, Tanker, Miscellaneous, Bulk Carrier, Dry Cargo/Passenge

2015 

Vessel Activity in the Arctic 
 

 

 

133 

Appendix 3.	 March (left) and April (right) 2015 vessel transits and sea ice extent in the Arctic region. Transits are sym

class and layered in following order: Offshore, Tanker, Miscellaneous, Bulk Carrier, Dry Cargo/Passenge

transits from the different vessel type classes overlap, only the uppermost transit will be visible). 
 

 

 

Appendix 4.	 May (left) and June (right) 2015 vessel transits and sea ice extent in the Arctic region. Transits are symb

class and layered in following order: Offshore, Tanker, Miscellaneous, Bulk Carrier, Dry Cargo/Passenge

transits from the different vessel type classes overlap, only the uppermost transit will be visible). 

2015 

Vessel Activity in the Arctic 
 

 

 

135 

Appendix 5.	 July (left) and August (right) 2015 vessel transits and sea ice extent in the Arctic region. Transits are sym

class and layered in following order: Offshore, Tanker, Miscellaneous, Bulk Carrier, Dry Cargo/Passenge

transits from the different vessel type classes overlap, only the uppermost transit will be visible). 
 

 

 

Appendix 6.	 September (left) and October (right) 2015 vessel transits and sea ice extent in the Arctic region. Transits 

Fishing (when transits from the different vessel type classes overlap, only the uppermost transit will be 

vessel type class and layered in following order: Offshore, Tanker, Miscellaneous, Bulk Carrier, Dry Carg

2015 

Vessel Activity in the Arctic 
 

 

 

137 

Appendix 7.	 November (left) and December (right) 2015 vessel transits and sea ice extent in the Arctic region. Trans

vessel type class and layered in following order: Offshore, Tanker, Miscellaneous, Bulk Carrier, Dry Carg

Fishing (when transits from the different vessel type classes overlap, only the uppermost transit will be 
 

2015 

Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Appendix 8. Transit density in the Arctic during 2015 for the Bulk Carrier (left) and Dry Cargo/Passenger (right) vesse
 

Appendix 9. Transit density in the Arctic during 2015 for the Fishing (left) and Miscellaneous (right) vessel type class

139
 

2015 

Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Appendix 10. Transit density in the Arctic during 2015 for the Offshore (left) and Tanker (right) vessel type classes. 
 

Appendix 11. Counts of vessels operating in the Arctic region by vessel type class and flag country.

Flag Country Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore T

Antigua & Barbuda 7 86 0 0 0 

Australia 0 0 0 2 0 

Bahamas 67 99 0 7 4 

Barbados 8 35 0 0 0 

Belgium 5 0 0 8 0 

Belize 3 5 1 0 1 

Bermuda 2 7 0 1 0 

Cambodia 0 0 0 0 0 

Canada 0 10 4 15 1 

Cayman Islands 1 6 0 0 0 

China, People's Republic Of 12 11 3 1 0 

Chinese Taipei 1 6 0 0 0 

Colombia 0 0 0 1 0 

Comoros 1 0 0 0 0 

Cook Islands 0 3 0 1 0 

Croatia 1 0 0 0 0 

Curacao 0 3 0 0 0 

Cyprus 53 29 0 8 2 

Denmark 0 3 33 5 0 

Denmark (Dis) 1 40 0 5 8 

Dominica 0 1 0 1 0 

Egypt 1 0 0 0 0 

Estonia 0 0 3 0 0 

Faeroe Islands 0 4 22 0 0 

Faeroes (Fas) 0 20 0 2 1 

Finland 2 0 0 5 0 

Flag Not Required 0 0 0 0 1 

France 0 3 3 0 0 

France (Fis) 0 8 0 3 0 

Germany 0 34 6 3 0 

Gibraltar 3 32 0 1 2 

141
 

2015 

Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Appendix 11. Counts of vessels operating in the Arctic region by vessel type class and flag country (continued). 

Flag Country Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore T

Greece 51 3 0 0 0 

Hong Kong, China 224 90 0 0 0 

Iceland 0 3 114 4 0 

India 6 0 0 0 0 

Indonesia 1 2 1 0 0 

Irish Republic 0 0 3 0 0 

Isle Of Man 11 1 0 0 5 

Israel 0 2 0 0 0 

Italy 10 11 0 1 1 

Japan 15 11 2 1 0 

Korea, South 15 10 6 1 0 

Latvia 0 1 9 0 0 

Liberia 126 136 0 0 2 

Libya 0 0 0 1 0 

Lithuania 0 1 5 0 0 

Luxembourg 1 1 0 1 0 

Malaysia 1 1 0 0 1 

Malta 100 85 0 1 3 

Marshall Islands 190 46 0 1 0 

Moldova 0 2 0 0 0 

Montenegro 1 0 0 0 0 

Netherlands 4 89 4 9 1 

Norway 0 157 369 59 48 

Norway (Nis) 14 36 0 7 4 

Pakistan 2 0 0 0 0 

Panama 483 241 0 7 3 

Philippines 13 3 0 0 0 

Poland 0 1 1 2 0 

Portugal 0 0 1 0 0 

Portugal (Mar) 9 10 0 0 0 

Qatar 0 0 0 0 0 
 

Appendix 11. Counts of vessels operating in the Arctic region by vessel type class and flag country (continued).

Flag Country Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore T

Russia 17 210 354 83 15 

Saudi Arabia 0 1 0 0 0 

Sierra Leone 0 0 0 0 0 

Singapore 109 78 0 2 3 

Spain 0 0 9 0 0 

Spain (Csr) 1 0 0 0 0 

St Kitts & Nevis 0 10 2 0 0 

St Vincent & The Grenadines 1 12 0 0 1 

Sweden 0 9 0 2 2 

Switzerland 3 0 0 0 0 

Thailand 1 0 0 0 0 

Turkey 3 1 0 0 0 

United Arab Emirates 0 0 0 0 1 

United Kingdom 4 34 4 4 1 

United States Of America 0 26 298 79 8 

Unknown 2 0 0 1 1 

Vanuatu 8 2 0 0 3 

Venezuela 0 0 0 0 0 

Vietnam 1 0 0 0 0 

Total 1595 1771 1257 335 123 

143
 

2015 

Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Appendix 12. Counts of transits in the Arctic region by vessel type class and flag country. 

Flag Country Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore T

Antigua & Barbuda 20 1029 0 0 0 

Australia 0 0 0 6 0 

Bahamas 158 1694 0 67 29 

Barbados 78 328 0 0 0 

Belgium 15 0 0 216 0 

Belize 10 82 9 0 5 

Bermuda 6 62 0 6 0 

Cambodia 0 0 0 0 0 

Canada 0 101 129 276 11 

Cayman Islands 1 11 0 0 0 

China, People's Republic Of 20 48 35 1 0 

Chinese Taipei 3 12 0 0 0 

Colombia 0 0 0 4 0 

Comoros 1 0 0 0 0 

Cook Islands 0 162 0 46 0 

Croatia 1 0 0 0 0 

Curacao 0 6 0 0 0 

Cyprus 324 350 0 127 47 

Denmark 0 140 986 190 0 

Denmark (Dis) 2 571 0 140 267 

Dominica 0 47 0 7 0 

Egypt 1 0 0 0 0 

Estonia 0 0 62 0 0 

Faeroe Islands 0 210 460 0 0 

Faeroes (Fas) 0 863 0 46 44 

Finland 21 0 0 147 0 

Flag Not Required 0 0 0 0 5 

France 0 122 63 0 0 

France (Fis) 0 13 0 24 0 

Germany 0 244 40 124 0 

Gibraltar 15 116 0 16 23 
 

Appendix 12. Counts of transits in the Arctic region by vessel type class and flag country (continued).

Flag Country Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore T

Greece 132 14 0 0 0 

Hong Kong, China 598 265 0 0 0 

Iceland 0 212 2983 59 0 

India 9 0 0 0 0 

Indonesia 1 2 4 0 0 

Irish Republic 0 0 29 0 0 

Isle Of Man 27 1 0 0 51 

Israel 0 7 0 0 0 

Italy 22 114 0 8 18 

Japan 33 21 13 11 0 

Korea, South 35 48 154 24 0 

Latvia 0 2 492 0 0 

Liberia 285 508 0 0 15 

Libya 0 0 0 1 0 

Lithuania 0 3 89 0 0 

Luxembourg 3 1 0 17 0 

Malaysia 2 1 0 0 1 

Malta 395 648 0 1 32 

Marshall Islands 493 138 0 19 0 

Moldova 0 229 0 0 0 

Montenegro 2 0 0 0 0 

Netherlands 10 886 9 198 55 

Norway 0 24389 20337 3339 1060 

Norway (Nis) 32 326 0 147 222 

Pakistan 2 0 0 0 0 

Panama 1300 816 0 67 127 

Philippines 19 17 0 0 0 

Poland 0 12 18 46 0 

Portugal 0 0 10 0 0 

Portugal (Mar) 27 57 0 0 0 

Qatar 0 0 0 0 0 

145
 

2015 

Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Appendix 12. Counts of transits in the Arctic region by vessel type class and flag country (continued). 

Flag Country Bulk Carriers Dry Cargo/Passenger Fishing Miscellaneous Offshore T

Russia 562 4563 11207 2416 508 

Saudi Arabia 0 1 0 0 0 

Sierra Leone 0 0 0 0 0 

Singapore 267 201 0 23 40 

Spain 0 0 219 0 0 

Spain (Csr) 8 0 0 0 0 

St Kitts & Nevis 0 451 105 0 0 

St Vincent & The Grenadines 6 195 0 0 9 

Sweden 0 423 0 37 68 

Switzerland 11 0 0 0 0 

Thailand 3 0 0 0 0 

Turkey 4 4 0 0 0 

United Arab Emirates 0 0 0 0 1 

United Kingdom 7 170 72 62 71 

United States Of America 0 849 13568 2639 378 

Unknown 2 0 0 2 16 

Vanuatu 31 138 0 0 30 

Venezuela 0 0 0 0 0 

Vietnam 2 0 0 0 0 

Total 5006 41923 51093 10559 3133 
 

 

 

Appendix 13.	 Average monthly sea ice extent in 2015 as a percentage of water surface area for the Arctic and the diff

seas located within the region. The table cells are shaded based on sea ice extent percent using the foll

(green), 26-50% (yellow), 51-75% (orange), and 76-100% (red). 

Location Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct 

Arctic Region 70 72 71 70 67 61 51 35 29 48 

Arctic Ocean 99 100 100 100 100 99 96 81 74 93 

Baffin Bay 94 94 94 94 94 71 35 10 10 21 

Barents Sea 43 49 40 30 27 16 7 0 0 1 

Beaufort Sea 98 98 98 98 98 84 76 33 9 73 

Bering Sea 16 25 26 25 8 0 0 0 0 0 

Chukchi Sea 97 97 97 97 97 50 3 0 0 1 

Davis Strait 92 93 93 93 88 73 55 15 0 0 

East Siberian Sea 98 98 98 98 98 98 79 17 5 59 

Greenland Sea 44 48 47 46 46 44 36 24 24 36 

Kara Sea 96 96 96 96 96 71 35 8 5 33 

Laptev Sea 96 96 96 96 96 95 73 22 5 96 

Northwestern Passages 88 88 88 88 87 84 77 50 29 72 

Norwegian Sea 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

White Sea 78 85 76 47 4 4 0 0 0 4 

147
 

- - - - - 

2015 

Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Appendix 14. Unique vessel counts for the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and gross t

Vessel Type <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 > 

Bulk Carriers 1 17 5 376 987 188 

Bulk Carrier 0 7 1 369 971 186 

Bulk Carrier, Self-discharging 0 0 0 6 2 1 

Cement Carrier 1 5 4 1 0 0 

Limestone Carrier 0 1 0 0 0 0 

Ore Carrier 0 0 0 0 0 1 

Ore/Oil Carrier 0 4 0 0 0 0 

Wood Chips Carrier 0 0 0 0 14 0 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 120 485 203 146 206 536 

Container Ship (Fully Cellular) 0 0 13 16 90 409 

Deck Cargo Ship 4 0 0 0 0 0 

General Cargo Ship 27 344 123 54 10 0 

General Cargo Ship (with Ro-Ro facility) 0 0 2 6 0 0 

General Cargo Ship, Self-discharging 0 2 0 0 0 0 

General Cargo/Passenger Ship 4 3 2 0 0 0 

Heavy Load Carrier 0 0 0 2 0 0 

Heavy Load Carrier, semi submersible 0 0 0 2 3 1 

Landing Craft 11 0 0 0 0 0 

Livestock Carrier 0 1 0 0 0 0 

Nuclear Fuel Carrier 0 2 1 0 0 0 

Open Hatch Cargo Ship 0 0 0 21 33 0 

Palletised Cargo Ship 2 8 0 0 0 0 

Passenger Ship 33 4 0 0 0 0 

Passenger/Cruise 6 11 9 16 17 20 

Passenger/Ro-Ro Ship (Vehicles) 28 24 4 10 0 0 

Refrigerated Cargo Ship 5 81 44 12 0 0 

Ro-Ro Cargo Ship 0 5 5 7 0 0 

Vehicles Carrier 0 0 0 0 53 106 
 

- - - - - 

Appendix 14. Unique vessel counts for the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and gross 

(continued).

Vessel Type <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 > 

Fishing 754 465 33 4 1 0 

Factory Stern Trawler 7 154 23 0 0 0 

Fish Carrier 17 3 0 3 0 0 

Fish Factory Ship 1 11 6 1 1 0 

Fish Farm Support Vessel 3 3 0 0 0 0 

Fishery Patrol Vessel 1 1 0 0 0 0 

Fishery Research Vessel 5 5 0 0 0 0 

Fishing Vessel 443 99 0 0 0 0 

Live Fish Carrier (Well Boat) 21 12 0 0 0 0 

Seal Catcher 4 0 0 0 0 0 

Stern Trawler 222 155 2 0 0 0 

Trawler 30 22 2 0 0 0 

Miscellaneous 200 86 31 16 2 0 

Articulated Pusher Tug 2 0 0 0 0 0 

Bunkering Tanker 3 0 0 0 0 0 

Buoy & Lighthouse Tender 3 0 0 0 0 0 

Buoy Tender 1 5 0 0 0 0 

Cable Layer 2 0 1 1 0 0 

Crane Vessel 1 1 0 0 1 0 

Cutter Suction Dredger 0 0 1 0 0 0 

Hopper, Motor 5 5 0 0 0 0 

Hopper/Dredger (unspecified) 1 0 0 0 0 0 

Icebreaker 0 6 10 7 0 0 

Icebreaker/Research 0 0 2 2 0 0 

Patrol Vessel 8 5 1 0 0 0 

Pollution Control Vessel 3 1 0 0 0 0 

Pusher Tug 3 0 0 0 0 0 

Research Survey Vessel 17 43 11 3 0 0 

Salvage Ship 2 3 0 0 0 0 

Search & Rescue Vessel 2 0 0 0 0 0 

Suction Dredger 2 0 0 0 0 0 

Suction Hopper Dredger 1 0 0 0 0 0 

Supply Tender 1 0 0 0 0 0 

Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger 0 4 3 3 1 0 

149
 

- - - - - 

2015 

Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Appendix 14. Unique vessel counts for the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and gross to

(continued). 

Vessel Type <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 > 

Training Ship 1 0 0 0 0 0 

Tug 136 12 2 0 0 0 

Utility Vessel 4 0 0 0 0 0 

Waste Disposal Vessel 2 0 0 0 0 0 

Work/Repair Vessel 0 1 0 0 0 0 

Offshore 19 60 31 9 1 1 

Anchor Handling Tug Supply 1 24 20 1 0 0 

Crew/Supply Vessel 2 0 0 0 0 0 

Diving Support Vessel 1 0 1 1 0 0 

Drilling Ship 1 1 0 1 0 0 

FPSO, Oil 0 0 0 0 0 0 

FSO, Oil 0 0 0 0 1 0 

Offshore Support Vessel 0 4 4 4 0 0 

Offshore Tug/Supply Ship 3 6 1 0 0 0 

Pipe Burying Vessel 0 0 0 1 0 0 

Pipe Layer 0 0 1 1 0 1 

Platform Supply Ship 4 24 4 0 0 0 

Standby Safety Vessel 7 1 0 0 0 0 

Tankers 7 82 28 89 77 59 

Asphalt/Bitumen Tanker 0 3 0 1 0 0 

Chemical Tanker 3 9 2 3 0 0 

Chemical/Products Tanker 1 45 17 67 46 0 

Crude Oil Tanker 0 0 0 0 1 28 

Crude/Oil Products Tanker 0 0 0 3 4 23 

LNG Tanker 0 0 0 0 0 3 

LPG Tanker 0 1 0 7 4 0 

Products Tanker 2 23 9 8 17 2 

Shuttle Tanker 0 0 0 0 5 3 

Tanker (unspecified) 1 0 0 0 0 0 

Vegetable Oil Tanker 0 1 0 0 0 0 

Total 1101 1195 331 640 1274 784 
 

- - - - - 

Appendix 15. Transit counts for the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and gross tonnage 

Vessel Type <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 > 

Bulk Carriers 6 359 195 1565 2348 466 

Bulk Carrier 0 201 4 1512 2295 458 

Bulk Carrier, Self-discharging 0 0 0 51 20 2 

Cement Carrier 6 45 191 2 0 0 

Limestone Carrier 0 15 0 0 0 0 

Ore Carrier 0 0 0 0 0 6 

Ore/Oil Carrier 0 98 0 0 0 0 

Wood Chips Carrier 0 0 0 0 33 0 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 15149 16384 4420 3167 695 1845 

Container Ship (Fully Cellular) 0 0 346 283 192 1514 

Deck Cargo Ship 438 0 0 0 0 0 

General Cargo Ship 1989 6835 1306 463 27 0 

General Cargo Ship (with Ro-Ro facility) 0 0 5 142 0 0 

General Cargo Ship, Self-discharging 0 789 0 0 0 0 

General Cargo/Passenger Ship 183 230 162 0 0 0 

Heavy Load Carrier 0 0 0 7 0 0 

Heavy Load Carrier, semi submersible 0 0 0 6 10 3 

Landing Craft 312 0 0 0 0 0 

Livestock Carrier 0 9 0 0 0 0 

Nuclear Fuel Carrier 0 13 2 0 0 0 

Open Hatch Cargo Ship 0 0 0 70 127 0 

Palletised Cargo Ship 240 676 0 0 0 0 

Passenger Ship 6125 323 0 0 0 0 

Passenger/Cruise 758 723 438 447 204 155 

Passenger/Ro-Ro Ship (Vehicles) 4923 4045 1383 1639 0 0 

Refrigerated Cargo Ship 181 2524 658 73 0 0 

Ro-Ro Cargo Ship 0 217 120 37 0 0 

Vehicles Carrier 0 0 0 0 135 173 

151
 

- - - - - 

Appendix 15. Transit counts for the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and gross tonnag

(continued). 

Vessel Type <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 > 

Fishing 38027 12325 673 48 20 0 

Factory Stern Trawler 258 3554 473 0 0 0 

Fish Carrier 513 84 0 26 0 0 

Fish Factory Ship 79 406 178 22 20 0 

Fish Farm Support Vessel 242 272 0 0 0 0 

Fishery Patrol Vessel 4 3 0 0 0 0 

Fishery Research Vessel 223 47 0 0 0 0 

Fishing Vessel 22967 2597 0 0 0 0 

Live Fish Carrier (Well Boat) 2540 815 0 0 0 0 

Seal Catcher 354 0 0 0 0 0 

Stern Trawler 10057 4196 5 0 0 0 

Trawler 790 351 17 0 0 0 

Miscellaneous 6916 2078 983 561 21 0 

Articulated Pusher Tug 18 0 0 0 0 0 

Bunkering Tanker 45 0 0 0 0 0 

Buoy & Lighthouse Tender 126 0 0 0 0 0 

Buoy Tender 13 62 0 0 0 0 

Cable Layer 77 0 55 2 0 0 

Crane Vessel 16 22 0 0 7 0 

Cutter Suction Dredger 0 0 8 0 0 0 

Hopper, Motor 102 116 0 0 0 0 

Hopper/Dredger (unspecified) 32 0 0 0 0 0 

Icebreaker 0 162 311 325 0 0 

Icebreaker/Research 0 0 50 136 0 0 

Patrol Vessel 632 397 118 0 0 0 

Pollution Control Vessel 289 14 0 0 0 0 

Pusher Tug 87 0 0 0 0 0 

Research Survey Vessel 413 918 249 15 0 0 

Salvage Ship 85 11 0 0 0 0 

Search & Rescue Vessel 103 0 0 0 0 0 

Suction Dredger 115 0 0 0 0 0 

Suction Hopper Dredger 3 0 0 0 0 0 

Supply Tender 69 0 0 0 0 0 

Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger 0 94 65 83 14 0 

2015 

Vessel Activity in the Arctic 
 

- - - - - 

Appendix 15. Transit counts for the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and gross tonnag

(continued).

Vessel Type <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 > 

Training Ship 2 0 0 0 0 0 

Tug 4366 263 127 0 0 0 

Utility Vessel 101 0 0 0 0 0 

Waste Disposal Vessel 222 0 0 0 0 0 

Work/Repair Vessel 0 19 0 0 0 0 

Offshore 353 1910 681 167 11 3 

Anchor Handling Tug Supply 38 672 387 51 0 0 

Crew/Supply Vessel 76 0 0 0 0 0 

Diving Support Vessel 26 0 30 4 0 0 

Drilling Ship 37 9 0 9 0 0 

FPSO, Oil 0 0 0 0 0 0 

FSO, Oil 0 0 0 0 11 0 

Offshore Support Vessel 0 43 34 35 0 0 

Offshore Tug/Supply Ship 36 177 1 0 0 0 

Pipe Burying Vessel 0 0 0 55 0 0 

Pipe Layer 0 0 17 13 0 3 

Platform Supply Ship 40 948 212 0 0 0 

Standby Safety Vessel 100 61 0 0 0 0 

Tankers 184 1791 383 966 761 372 

Asphalt/Bitumen Tanker 0 11 0 6 0 0 

Chemical Tanker 19 218 16 5 0 0 

Chemical/Products Tanker 8 945 252 698 145 0 

Crude Oil Tanker 0 0 0 0 3 207 

Crude/Oil Products Tanker 0 0 0 122 13 133 

LNG Tanker 0 0 0 0 0 10 

LPG Tanker 0 1 0 25 17 0 

Products Tanker 119 569 115 110 68 9 

Shuttle Tanker 0 0 0 0 515 13 

Tanker (unspecified) 38 0 0 0 0 0 

Vegetable Oil Tanker 0 47 0 0 0 0 

Total 60635 34847 7335 6474 3856 2686 

153
 

- - - - - 

2015 

Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Appendix 16. Operational hours in the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and gross tonna

Vessel Type <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 > 

Bulk Carriers 10709 3029 84716 140551 21170 2586 

Bulk Carrier 6870 70 84056 138280 21100 2586 

Bulk Carrier, Self-discharging 0 0 653 313 22 0 

Cement Carrier 404 2960 7 0 0 0 

Limestone Carrier 580 0 0 0 0 0 

Ore Carrier 0 0 0 0 47 0 

Ore/Oil Carrier 2856 0 0 0 0 0 

Wood Chips Carrier 0 0 0 1957 0 0 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 299131 105801 95376 29646 80720 10954 

Container Ship (Fully Cellular) 0 6464 4216 8974 69981 10158 

Deck Cargo Ship 0 0 0 0 0 0 

General Cargo Ship 157097 52797 30542 1571 0 0 

General Cargo Ship (with Ro-Ro facility) 0 306 5380 0 0 0 

General Cargo Ship, Self-discharging 6655 0 0 0 0 0 

General Cargo/Passenger Ship 5645 3934 0 0 0 0 

Heavy Load Carrier 0 0 866 0 0 0 

Heavy Load Carrier, semi submersible 0 0 540 1116 97 0 

Landing Craft 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Livestock Carrier 229 0 0 0 0 0 

Nuclear Fuel Carrier 107 5 0 0 0 0 

Open Hatch Cargo Ship 0 0 4724 7220 0 0 

Palletised Cargo Ship 12432 0 0 0 0 0 

Passenger Ship 6596 0 0 0 0 0 

Passenger/Cruise 13774 7908 9754 3643 2427 795 

Passenger/Ro-Ro Ship (Vehicles) 44830 19654 37014 0 0 0 

Refrigerated Cargo Ship 48096 13758 1548 0 0 0 

Ro-Ro Cargo Ship 3671 975 793 0 0 0 

Vehicles Carrier 0 0 0 7123 8215 0 
 

- - - - - 

Appendix 16. Operational hours in the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and gross ton

(continued).

Vessel Type <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 > 

Fishing 920398 31553 4222 203 0 0 

Factory Stern Trawler 294223 27070 0 0 0 0 

Fish Carrier 3510 0 542 0 0 0 

Fish Factory Ship 7890 1905 3680 203 0 0 

Fish Farm Support Vessel 4361 0 0 0 0 0 

Fishery Patrol Vessel 68 0 0 0 0 0 

Fishery Research Vessel 2003 0 0 0 0 0 

Fishing Vessel 118276 0 0 0 0 0 

Live Fish Carrier (Well Boat) 9084 0 0 0 0 0 

Seal Catcher 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Stern Trawler 462861 530 0 0 0 0 

Trawler 18122 2048 0 0 0 0 

Miscellaneous 95628 39590 32863 2483 0 0 

Articulated Pusher Tug 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Bunkering Tanker 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Buoy & Lighthouse Tender 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Buoy Tender 2335 0 0 0 0 0 

Cable Layer 0 4508 19 0 0 0 

Crane Vessel 344 0 0 425 0 0 

Cutter Suction Dredger 0 372 0 0 0 0 

Hopper, Motor 4599 0 0 0 0 0 

Hopper/Dredger (unspecified) 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Icebreaker 3534 8688 17152 0 0 0 

Icebreaker/Research 0 2366 3917 0 0 0 

Patrol Vessel 9539 2435 0 0 0 0 

Pollution Control Vessel 159 0 0 0 0 0 

Pusher Tug 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Research Survey Vessel 57250 12731 6858 0 0 0 

Salvage Ship 422 0 0 0 0 0 

Search & Rescue Vessel 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Suction Dredger 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Suction Hopper Dredger 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Supply Tender 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger 5025 4651 4918 2058 0 0 

155
 

- - - - - 

Appendix 16. Operational hours in the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and gross ton

(continued). 

Vessel Type <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 > 

Training Ship 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Tug 10754 3840 0 0 0 0 

Utility Vessel 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Waste Disposal Vessel 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Work/Repair Vessel 1666 0 0 0 0 0 

Offshore 40129 8933 2755 234 10 115 

Anchor Handling Tug Supply 19518 6695 1348 0 0 0 

Crew/Supply Vessel 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Diving Support Vessel 0 277 64 0 0 0 

Drilling Ship 242 0 431 0 0 0 

FPSO, Oil 0 0 0 0 0 14 

FSO, Oil 0 0 0 234 0 101 

Offshore Support Vessel 839 357 204 0 0 0 

Offshore Tug/Supply Ship 4507 1 0 0 0 0 

Pipe Burying Vessel 0 0 457 0 0 0 

Pipe Layer 0 72 252 0 10 0 

Platform Supply Ship 14615 1531 0 0 0 0 

Standby Safety Vessel 408 0 0 0 0 0 

Tankers 38487 13967 40190 26631 11707 5844 

Asphalt/Bitumen Tanker 150 0 253 0 0 0 

Chemical Tanker 5193 424 276 0 0 0 

Chemical/Products Tanker 16558 7968 25970 7507 0 0 

Crude Oil Tanker 0 0 0 81 6153 0 

Crude/Oil Products Tanker 0 0 6362 484 4804 0 

LNG Tanker 0 0 0 0 333 5844 

LPG Tanker 2 0 518 475 0 0 

Products Tanker 15475 5576 6811 2780 152 0 

Shuttle Tanker 0 0 0 15304 264 0 

Tanker (unspecified) 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Vegetable Oil Tanker 1109 0 0 0 0 0 

Total 1404483 202874 260121 199747 113607 19498 

2015 

Vessel Activity in the Arctic 
 

- - - - - 

Appendix 17. Distance travelled (nm) in the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and gross 

Vessel Type <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 > 

Bulk Carriers 1017 96371 35497 912388 1541667 225610 

Bulk Carrier 0 65078 659 904701 1516385 224798 

Bulk Carrier, Self-discharging 0 0 0 7607 2726 242 

Cement Carrier 1017 4278 34838 81 0 0 

Limestone Carrier 0 5359 0 0 0 0 

Ore Carrier 0 0 0 0 0 570 

Ore/Oil Carrier 0 21656 0 0 0 0 

Wood Chips Carrier 0 0 0 0 22557 0 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 807826 2408172 1080818 1039735 416210 1311591 

Container Ship (Fully Cellular) 0 0 77384 62399 134905 1141843 

Deck Cargo Ship 25175 0 0 0 0 0 

General Cargo Ship 200077 1379613 556764 348666 19011 0 

General Cargo Ship (with Ro-Ro facility) 0 0 3710 61797 0 0 

General Cargo Ship, Self-discharging 0 53722 0 0 0 0 

General Cargo/Passenger Ship 10376 53380 38518 0 0 0 

Heavy Load Carrier 0 0 0 10530 0 0 

Heavy Load Carrier, semi submersible 0 0 0 6858 11634 919 

Landing Craft 46236 0 0 0 0 0 

Livestock Carrier 0 1122 0 0 0 0 

Nuclear Fuel Carrier 0 892 32 0 0 0 

Open Hatch Cargo Ship 0 0 0 54982 90319 0 

Palletised Cargo Ship 11062 95103 0 0 0 0 

Passenger Ship 302516 48452 0 0 0 0 

Passenger/Cruise 53227 125819 76460 103786 52550 37689 

Passenger/Ro-Ro Ship (Vehicles) 133326 135928 161741 362293 0 0 

Refrigerated Cargo Ship 25832 482476 154542 19028 0 0 

Ro-Ro Cargo Ship 0 31664 11667 9396 0 0 

Vehicles Carrier 0 0 0 0 107792 131140 

157
 

- - - - - 

Appendix 17. Distance travelled (nm) in the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and gros

(continued). 

Vessel Type <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 > 

Fishing 6049046 4506132 193298 24688 1339 0 

Factory Stern Trawler 122024 1475858 161606 0 0 0 

Fish Carrier 104502 24218 0 4837 0 0 

Fish Factory Ship 3698 51084 14670 19851 1339 0 

Fish Farm Support Vessel 7116 33885 0 0 0 0 

Fishery Patrol Vessel 849 193 0 0 0 0 

Fishery Research Vessel 29999 14609 0 0 0 0 

Fishing Vessel 3018484 544714 0 0 0 0 

Live Fish Carrier (Well Boat) 264352 73363 0 0 0 0 

Seal Catcher 62577 0 0 0 0 0 

Stern Trawler 2299898 2194318 4107 0 0 0 

Trawler 135547 93891 12916 0 0 0 

Miscellaneous 724553 565539 252985 255299 18308 0 

Articulated Pusher Tug 4040 0 0 0 0 0 

Bunkering Tanker 2314 0 0 0 0 0 

Buoy & Lighthouse Tender 6454 0 0 0 0 0 

Buoy Tender 458 20025 0 0 0 0 

Cable Layer 6761 0 16673 173 0 0 

Crane Vessel 239 2766 0 0 3805 0 

Cutter Suction Dredger 0 0 3423 0 0 0 

Hopper, Motor 7123 25605 0 0 0 0 

Hopper/Dredger (unspecified) 1571 0 0 0 0 0 

Icebreaker 0 26889 54977 163224 0 0 

Icebreaker/Research 0 0 18558 28933 0 0 

Patrol Vessel 43047 55054 17446 0 0 0 

Pollution Control Vessel 9668 1250 0 0 0 0 

Pusher Tug 13119 0 0 0 0 0 

Research Survey Vessel 94882 339184 80520 33704 0 0 

Salvage Ship 5179 2858 0 0 0 0 

Search & Rescue Vessel 4525 0 0 0 0 0 

Suction Dredger 6848 0 0 0 0 0 

Suction Hopper Dredger 127 0 0 0 0 0 

Supply Tender 3164 0 0 0 0 0 

Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger 0 25645 24041 29265 14504 0 

2015 

Vessel Activity in the Arctic 
 

- - - - - 

Appendix 17. Distance travelled (nm) in the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and gros

(continued).

Vessel Type <1000 1000-4999 5000-9999 10000-24999 25000-49999 50000-99999 > 

Training Ship 488 0 0 0 0 0 

Tug 482400 52996 37347 0 0 0 

Utility Vessel 6966 0 0 0 0 0 

Waste Disposal Vessel 25180 0 0 0 0 0 

Work/Repair Vessel 0 13266 0 0 0 0 

Offshore 70830 265314 79501 20142 1351 103 

Anchor Handling Tug Supply 825 120586 58431 6912 0 0 

Crew/Supply Vessel 5911 0 0 0 0 0 

Diving Support Vessel 2593 0 2903 906 0 0 

Drilling Ship 3469 1913 0 2622 0 0 

FPSO, Oil 0 0 0 0 0 0 

FSO, Oil 0 0 0 0 1351 0 

Offshore Support Vessel 0 8907 3843 2382 0 0 

Offshore Tug/Supply Ship 7544 28041 10 0 0 0 

Pipe Burying Vessel 0 0 0 4871 0 0 

Pipe Layer 0 0 740 2449 0 103 

Platform Supply Ship 2350 104304 13574 0 0 0 

Standby Safety Vessel 48138 1562 0 0 0 0 

Tankers 22629 343693 136710 457931 282227 108594 

Asphalt/Bitumen Tanker 0 1698 0 3112 0 0 

Chemical Tanker 3007 51052 3611 3635 0 0 

Chemical/Products Tanker 1254 157409 80760 306568 82600 0 

Crude Oil Tanker 0 0 0 0 867 55327 

Crude/Oil Products Tanker 0 0 0 63928 6090 44271 

LNG Tanker 0 0 0 0 0 4926 

LPG Tanker 0 21 0 7018 6638 0 

Products Tanker 17625 125890 52339 73671 32419 1737 

Shuttle Tanker 0 0 0 0 153614 2333 

Tanker (unspecified) 744 0 0 0 0 0 

Vegetable Oil Tanker 0 7624 0 0 0 0 

Total 7675901 8185221 1778809 2710183 2261103 1645897 

159
 

2015 

Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Appendix 18. Unique vessel counts for the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and month

Vessel Type Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep O

Bulk Carriers 308 240 267 225 286 260 283 275 247 2

Bulk Carrier 297 229 263 217 277 254 272 260 235 2

Bulk Carrier, Self-discharging 4 3 0 2 1 1 2 4 2 

Cement Carrier 2 5 1 4 3 3 3 5 4 

Limestone Carrier 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 

Ore Carrier 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 

Ore/Oil Carrier 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 4 4 

Wood Chips Carrier 4 2 2 2 5 0 2 1 0 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 536 452 553 456 615 580 657 663 623 6

Container Ship (Fully Cellular) 203 139 198 133 205 136 134 138 113 1

Deck Cargo Ship 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 

General Cargo Ship 142 138 152 154 169 185 218 237 242 2

General Cargo Ship (with Ro-Ro facility) 2 3 3 4 4 3 4 4 5 

General Cargo Ship, Self-discharging 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 

General Cargo/Passenger Ship 3 4 5 3 4 6 7 6 6 

Heavy Load Carrier 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 

Heavy Load Carrier, semi submersible 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 4 

Landing Craft 0 2 0 2 5 5 5 8 6 

Livestock Carrier 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 

Nuclear Fuel Carrier 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 

Open Hatch Cargo Ship 16 14 16 12 17 13 14 17 16 1

Palletised Cargo Ship 7 7 7 6 6 7 8 9 9 

Passenger Ship 19 17 18 20 24 25 28 27 26 2

Passenger/Cruise 3 6 13 4 29 53 61 53 36 

Passenger/Ro-Ro Ship (Vehicles) 46 47 47 45 54 53 50 53 53 5

Refrigerated Cargo Ship 39 43 49 47 51 64 97 76 74 6

Ro-Ro Cargo Ship 5 2 7 5 5 4 4 6 7 

Vehicles Carrier 46 25 32 15 36 21 21 23 19 1
 

Appendix 18. Unique vessel counts for the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and mont

Vessel Type Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep O

Fishing 679 639 681 570 556 742 714 679 700 6

Factory Stern Trawler 85 75 76 50 74 106 123 126 119 9

Fish Carrier 6 6 6 8 6 14 12 11 10 

Fish Factory Ship 8 7 6 10 8 15 15 7 7 

Fish Farm Support Vessel 4 5 4 2 4 5 4 5 5 

Fishery Patrol Vessel 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 

Fishery Research Vessel 2 2 4 3 7 4 6 4 5 

Fishing Vessel 306 287 312 252 218 317 280 232 249 2

Live Fish Carrier (Well Boat) 17 16 18 19 24 24 20 22 19 2

Seal Catcher 4 2 3 4 3 4 3 3 2 

Stern Trawler 217 211 219 205 203 242 239 252 259 2

Trawler 30 28 33 17 9 10 11 17 25 2

Miscellaneous 63 66 77 90 102 151 211 229 229 1

Articulated Pusher Tug 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 

Bunkering Tanker 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 

Buoy & Lighthouse Tender 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 3 3 

Buoy Tender 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 2 3 

Cable Layer 2 2 3 3 4 3 3 3 3 

Crane Vessel 0 0 1 1 1 0 2 2 2 

Cutter Suction Dredger 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 

Hopper, Motor 1 2 1 3 0 0 5 6 7 

Hopper/Dredger (unspecified) 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 

Icebreaker 5 6 7 9 8 11 11 14 14 1

Icebreaker/Research 0 0 0 0 2 2 3 4 4 

Patrol Vessel 8 8 10 8 8 7 8 10 9 1

Pollution Control Vessel 3 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 4 

Pusher Tug 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 3 

Research Survey Vessel 6 6 9 14 17 37 48 49 48 3

Salvage Ship 4 2 3 3 2 1 2 1 1 

Search & Rescue Vessel 2 2 2 1 1 2 2 2 1 

Suction Dredger 1 0 1 1 0 1 2 2 1 

Suction Hopper Dredger 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 

Supply Tender 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 

Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 11 11 

161
 

2015 

Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Appendix 18. Unique vessel counts for the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and mont

Vessel Type Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep O

Training Ship 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 

Tug 28 30 34 39 50 72 99 108 106 8

Utility Vessel 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 

Waste Disposal Vessel 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 

Work/Repair Vessel 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 

Offshore 12 16 22 33 41 39 50 52 64 5

Anchor Handling Tug Supply 6 7 9 15 19 15 19 18 20 1

Crew/Supply Vessel 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 

Diving Support Vessel 0 0 0 1 2 1 2 2 2 

Drilling Ship 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 2 

FPSO, Oil 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 

FSO, Oil 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 

Offshore Support Vessel 1 1 1 2 1 2 5 2 2 

Offshore Tug/Supply Ship 2 2 4 3 2 5 4 4 6 

Pipe Burying Vessel 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 

Pipe Layer 0 0 0 2 2 2 1 1 2 

Platform Supply Ship 1 2 5 8 13 10 11 17 21 1

Standby Safety Vessel 1 3 3 2 2 4 4 3 4 

Tankers 82 78 88 88 88 94 115 124 120 1

Asphalt/Bitumen Tanker 0 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 

Chemical Tanker 2 4 5 4 4 5 6 9 9 

Chemical/Products Tanker 42 37 38 37 46 47 56 65 54 4

Crude Oil Tanker 5 5 4 4 3 3 4 4 6 

Crude/Oil Products Tanker 5 4 7 9 7 7 6 5 7 

LNG Tanker 7 5 7 6 6 7 6 7 7 

LPG Tanker 3 3 4 2 1 1 3 1 2 

Products Tanker 13 14 14 19 14 17 26 24 26 2

Shuttle Tanker 5 5 5 5 5 4 5 6 6 

Tanker (unspecified) 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 

Vegetable Oil Tanker 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 

Total 1680 1491 1688 1462 1688 1866 2030 2022 1983 19
 

Appendix 19. Transit counts for the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and month. 

Vessel Type Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep O

Bulk Carriers 468 362 430 395 470 414 488 532 464 4

Bulk Carrier 439 329 409 368 437 382 434 467 397 4

Bulk Carrier, Self-discharging 6 6 0 8 6 9 8 15 6 

Cement Carrier 16 20 15 15 20 17 21 28 24 2

Limestone Carrier 0 4 2 0 0 0 0 1 3 

Ore Carrier 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 

Ore/Oil Carrier 0 0 0 0 0 6 22 20 32 1

Wood Chips Carrier 4 3 4 4 7 0 3 1 0 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 2873 2568 3090 2911 3541 4217 4829 4812 4222 37

Container Ship (Fully Cellular) 269 180 254 204 286 213 241 243 189 2

Deck Cargo Ship 27 68 77 53 41 37 22 27 26 2

General Cargo Ship 584 605 639 680 814 1026 1115 1363 1306 11

General Cargo Ship (with Ro-Ro facility) 11 4 12 21 20 8 15 12 15 1

General Cargo Ship, Self-discharging 64 66 59 56 66 72 70 72 81 7

General Cargo/Passenger Ship 30 29 50 36 44 76 83 82 54 3

Heavy Load Carrier 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 4 

Heavy Load Carrier, semi submersible 0 0 0 3 0 0 4 0 10 

Landing Craft 0 4 0 18 35 52 41 51 62 4

Livestock Carrier 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 

Nuclear Fuel Carrier 0 0 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 

Open Hatch Cargo Ship 20 17 21 20 21 14 22 27 19 1

Palletised Cargo Ship 71 65 70 73 63 80 86 91 86 9

Passenger Ship 432 362 474 453 570 599 759 668 571 5

Passenger/Cruise 23 32 82 44 187 588 724 690 384 6

Passenger/Ro-Ro Ship (Vehicles) 1074 875 1027 972 1049 1059 1118 1060 966 9

Refrigerated Cargo Ship 184 210 238 234 274 342 465 351 376 3

Ro-Ro Cargo Ship 31 25 48 26 24 28 33 44 47 3

Vehicles Carrier 53 26 37 18 44 23 30 26 20 1

163
 

2015 

Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Appendix 19. Transit counts for the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and month (cont

Vessel Type Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep O

Fishing 4093 4693 5452 3872 3946 5376 6049 4891 4733 43

Factory Stern Trawler 289 392 465 263 234 413 634 548 534 3

Fish Carrier 20 31 46 54 42 70 79 73 65 5

Fish Factory Ship 26 46 42 70 71 70 123 51 83 5

Fish Farm Support Vessel 21 38 48 30 30 57 42 38 55 6

Fishery Patrol Vessel 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 0 0 

Fishery Research Vessel 7 10 25 13 22 44 43 55 25 2

Fishing Vessel 2330 2446 2861 1886 1938 2720 3161 2144 2024 20

Live Fish Carrier (Well Boat) 216 180 203 226 345 319 253 303 306 3

Seal Catcher 31 18 19 54 37 61 49 37 14 2

Stern Trawler 1031 1339 1509 1189 1178 1567 1594 1578 1527 11

Trawler 122 193 234 87 49 52 67 64 100 9

Miscellaneous 468 398 584 591 632 997 1456 1845 1867 11

Articulated Pusher Tug 0 0 0 0 0 8 7 0 0 

Bunkering Tanker 3 1 1 3 3 6 7 10 2 

Buoy & Lighthouse Tender 0 0 0 0 0 7 38 34 31 1

Buoy Tender 0 0 0 0 5 1 19 19 26 1

Cable Layer 16 7 19 8 10 14 16 17 10 

Crane Vessel 0 0 6 6 3 0 7 12 12 

Cutter Suction Dredger 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 

Hopper, Motor 13 9 4 13 0 0 13 21 80 5

Hopper/Dredger (unspecified) 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 4 8 

Icebreaker 37 44 71 78 66 78 64 115 119 6

Icebreaker/Research 0 0 0 0 14 22 22 67 47 2

Patrol Vessel 109 86 113 118 83 94 102 99 96 9

Pollution Control Vessel 24 19 24 22 34 36 29 22 34 1

Pusher Tug 0 0 0 0 0 11 5 32 30 1

Research Survey Vessel 32 24 61 75 65 185 318 376 341 1

Salvage Ship 8 2 13 3 8 5 2 15 4 

Search & Rescue Vessel 4 10 11 13 10 16 10 8 6 

Suction Dredger 4 0 5 3 0 22 21 9 15 1

Suction Hopper Dredger 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 

Supply Tender 0 0 0 2 5 0 2 1 3 

Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger 0 0 0 0 0 0 36 68 117 5
 

Appendix 19. Transit counts for the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and month (cont

Vessel Type Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep O

Training Ship 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 

Tug 191 175 221 220 303 465 720 895 850 4

Utility Vessel 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 13 29 2

Waste Disposal Vessel 27 19 35 26 17 18 10 2 2 2

Work/Repair Vessel 0 0 0 1 5 2 0 6 4 

Offshore 94 146 163 193 248 244 341 450 566 3

Anchor Handling Tug Supply 56 72 80 64 70 84 125 156 189 1

Crew/Supply Vessel 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 31 31 

Diving Support Vessel 0 0 0 1 12 4 14 14 11 

Drilling Ship 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 15 25 

FPSO, Oil 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 

FSO, Oil 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 

Offshore Support Vessel 2 6 5 5 6 11 19 13 11 1

Offshore Tug/Supply Ship 12 22 31 20 14 18 14 19 21 2

Pipe Burying Vessel 2 14 0 0 0 0 0 5 6 

Pipe Layer 0 0 0 6 11 10 2 1 3 

Platform Supply Ship 19 23 36 84 118 99 135 185 236 1

Standby Safety Vessel 3 9 11 13 17 18 16 11 24 3

Tankers 317 320 309 310 327 379 508 582 550 4

Asphalt/Bitumen Tanker 0 1 4 3 2 2 1 2 2 

Chemical Tanker 7 13 10 17 17 17 36 33 55 3

Chemical/Products Tanker 133 112 100 114 168 190 244 289 252 1

Crude Oil Tanker 14 28 23 9 8 4 12 18 16 3

Crude/Oil Products Tanker 22 23 25 29 21 25 27 21 31 2

LNG Tanker 12 14 16 13 14 13 12 16 13 1

LPG Tanker 8 4 5 3 2 2 5 2 4 

Products Tanker 58 68 76 77 47 82 117 131 126 1

Shuttle Tanker 63 57 48 40 43 32 39 47 41 4

Tanker (unspecified) 0 0 2 5 5 4 7 4 7 

Vegetable Oil Tanker 0 0 0 0 0 8 8 19 3 1

Total 8313 8487 10028 8272 9164 11627 13671 13112 12402 10

165
 

2015 

Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Appendix 20. Operational hours in the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and month. 

Vessel Type Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep 

Bulk Carriers 24562 19317 22584 17956 23674 19879 23098 22761 20916 2

Bulk Carrier 23930 18533 22101 17519 22707 19493 21844 21403 19531 2

Bulk Carrier, Self-discharging 85 105 0 110 77 112 104 136 85 

Cement Carrier 229 329 199 201 374 220 323 414 321 

Limestone Carrier 0 153 82 0 0 0 0 2 156 

Ore Carrier 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 

Ore/Oil Carrier 0 0 0 0 0 54 696 724 811 

Wood Chips Carrier 292 196 202 125 517 0 131 82 0 

Dry Cargo/Passenger 50907 41458 53845 48018 60420 66642 80289 85820 77117 6

Container Ship (Fully Cellular) 10317 6685 10388 6649 11721 7505 7859 8086 7001 1

Deck Cargo Ship 681 643 770 503 391 436 279 262 362 

General Cargo Ship 15107 14064 17184 17318 19195 21047 26133 33214 34356 2

General Cargo Ship (with Ro-Ro facility) 341 151 434 513 749 290 705 317 866 

General Cargo Ship, Self-discharging 455 489 667 639 448 445 438 557 553 

General Cargo/Passenger Ship 757 504 818 763 830 1501 1466 1420 954 

Heavy Load Carrier 0 0 0 0 0 0 86 377 404 

Heavy Load Carrier, semi submersible 0 0 0 97 0 0 162 0 1162 

Landing Craft 0 11 0 267 863 1094 808 1307 1172 1

Livestock Carrier 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 198 

Nuclear Fuel Carrier 0 0 5 0 41 0 0 0 0 

Open Hatch Cargo Ship 1121 868 1032 864 1204 691 1164 1415 966 

Palletised Cargo Ship 999 942 1175 1191 818 1157 1114 1589 1136 1

Passenger Ship 1660 1400 1740 1740 2522 3613 4841 4264 3432 2

Passenger/Cruise 762 688 1646 907 2997 9037 11437 11968 6151 1

Passenger/Ro-Ro Ship (Vehicles) 11390 9186 10780 10348 10734 12284 13762 12496 9749 9

Refrigerated Cargo Ship 4200 4258 4813 5109 5503 6002 8419 6421 7012 6

Ro-Ro Cargo Ship 372 277 758 334 458 462 459 944 686 

Vehicles Carrier 2744 1292 1637 776 1947 1079 1157 1183 959 
 

Appendix 20. Operational hours in the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and month (con

Vessel Type Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep 

Fishing 164499 172586 202034 159595 176361 197730 202888 197446 214471 2

Factory Stern Trawler 20281 26556 29719 18854 26651 31060 30496 32783 35939 3

Fish Carrier 724 1413 1642 1864 1238 1507 1969 1964 2261 

Fish Factory Ship 848 984 1208 1025 852 1504 1958 1260 2084 

Fish Farm Support Vessel 300 442 537 248 330 489 553 587 543 

Fishery Patrol Vessel 0 0 0 0 0 68 115 0 0 

Fishery Research Vessel 282 197 525 278 806 775 636 1494 959 

Fishing Vessel 68809 67989 80703 55050 58582 68577 70776 59837 66804 7

Live Fish Carrier (Well Boat) 2505 2273 2712 2825 5110 5125 3588 3686 3832 4

Seal Catcher 1276 762 1269 1533 1281 1237 1438 1010 1198 

Stern Trawler 65613 67165 76594 75086 78988 85452 88867 91243 96138 9

Trawler 3861 4805 7125 2833 2524 1935 2494 3582 4714 

Miscellaneous 6796 6786 10131 12984 18991 24778 47100 59879 58343 3

Articulated Pusher Tug 0 0 0 0 0 327 283 0 0 

Bunkering Tanker 10 1 1 12 8 49 20 40 12 

Buoy & Lighthouse Tender 0 0 0 0 0 123 270 196 329 

Buoy Tender 0 0 0 0 113 29 820 348 814 

Cable Layer 527 421 558 749 754 291 577 809 398 

Crane Vessel 0 0 13 34 15 0 208 302 197 

Cutter Suction Dredger 0 0 0 0 0 0 181 0 0 

Hopper, Motor 19 34 10 117 0 0 566 1661 1681 

Hopper/Dredger (unspecified) 0 0 0 0 0 17 17 36 81 

Icebreaker 1150 1725 2354 2545 1978 1699 2285 4587 4143 

Icebreaker/Research 0 0 0 0 509 608 561 1631 1951 

Patrol Vessel 1782 1697 1941 2281 1493 1346 1571 1488 1476 

Pollution Control Vessel 120 116 151 122 207 211 98 99 175 

Pusher Tug 0 0 0 0 0 216 207 593 834 

Research Survey Vessel 938 812 1611 3160 6952 10173 17922 19527 19979 1

Salvage Ship 89 14 382 19 56 152 17 136 58 

Search & Rescue Vessel 10 43 65 48 30 108 59 28 15 

Suction Dredger 35 0 32 28 0 219 287 95 106 

Suction Hopper Dredger 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 5 

Supply Tender 0 0 0 9 52 0 14 16 24 

Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger 0 0 0 0 0 0 2163 6194 5113 

167
 

2015 

Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Appendix 20. Operational hours in the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and month (con

Vessel Type Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep 

Training Ship 0 34 0 0 0 32 0 0 0 

Tug 1718 1612 2628 3584 6031 8921 18613 21308 19974 1

Utility Vessel 0 2 0 0 0 0 260 463 272 

Waste Disposal Vessel 398 274 385 275 217 194 100 75 76 

Work/Repair Vessel 0 0 0 2 572 63 0 248 633 

Offshore 1007 1828 2260 3455 3974 4646 9010 10597 11810 

Anchor Handling Tug Supply 626 1007 1233 1685 1657 1459 3481 4150 4806 

Crew/Supply Vessel 0 0 0 0 0 0 194 360 355 

Diving Support Vessel 0 0 0 39 119 30 224 68 84 

Drilling Ship 0 0 0 0 0 0 335 127 191 

FPSO, Oil 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 11 

FSO, Oil 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 132 

Offshore Support Vessel 34 68 34 23 33 109 295 90 46 

Offshore Tug/Supply Ship 155 250 316 137 106 263 969 1331 1614 

Pipe Burying Vessel 46 127 0 0 0 0 0 21 14 

Pipe Layer 0 0 0 69 137 105 7 3 13 

Platform Supply Ship 101 154 297 969 1362 918 1913 3005 3638 

Standby Safety Vessel 44 223 379 533 561 1761 1588 1442 905 

Tankers 8633 9508 10366 9227 9683 9978 13946 16985 18027 1

Asphalt/Bitumen Tanker 0 6 82 42 93 28 5 8 141 

Chemical Tanker 138 205 224 180 213 313 623 1206 1498 

Chemical/Products Tanker 3959 4146 4110 3412 4374 4814 6198 7516 7403 4

Crude Oil Tanker 518 660 697 356 308 270 390 492 679 

Crude/Oil Products Tanker 670 717 1154 1074 1032 464 1502 1315 1349 

LNG Tanker 459 759 656 434 452 364 398 505 515 

LPG Tanker 98 78 100 61 72 65 131 61 70 

Products Tanker 1458 1754 2168 2423 1760 2453 3191 4188 4910 4

Shuttle Tanker 1332 1183 1173 1232 1372 1065 1248 1395 1310 

Tanker (unspecified) 0 0 2 12 8 9 33 14 29 

Vegetable Oil Tanker 0 0 0 0 0 132 227 285 124 

Total 256404 251483 301220 251236 293104 323653 376332 393488 400684 3
 

Appendix 21. Distance travelled (nm) in the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and month

Vessel Type Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep 

Bulk Carriers 255081 199963 235725 188184 263315 229044 264678 262174 237757 27

Bulk Carrier 248037 192697 230748 182878 251485 224858 252662 249263 225350 26

Bulk Carrier, Self-discharging 729 905 0 1302 950 1152 1179 1627 950 

Cement Carrier 2416 3154 2305 2427 4561 2628 3842 4803 3857 3

Limestone Carrier 0 1436 745 0 0 0 0 16 1445 

Ore Carrier 321 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 147 

Ore/Oil Carrier 0 0 0 0 0 407 5261 5558 6008 4

Wood Chips Carrier 3578 1771 1927 1576 6319 0 1734 907 0 1

Dry Cargo/Passenger 520055 397493 547293 467194 637471 661457 790490 839375 760674 67

Container Ship (Fully Cellular) 163462 106648 160840 104144 186451 120142 126677 130879 112324 16

Deck Cargo Ship 2330 2293 2970 2023 1644 2629 2115 1910 2704 1

General Cargo Ship 139839 119021 157436 164708 189056 202012 248661 310162 320956 27

General Cargo Ship (with Ro-Ro facility) 3418 1787 4452 5441 8496 3468 8789 4132 11072 7

General Cargo Ship, Self-discharging 3651 4142 5266 5334 3411 3694 3479 4576 4382 6

General Cargo/Passenger Ship 7234 4777 7830 7216 8002 13775 13214 12854 8653 6

Heavy Load Carrier 0 0 0 0 0 0 1168 4640 4722 

Heavy Load Carrier, semi submersible 0 0 0 919 0 0 1529 0 13399 3

Landing Craft 0 85 0 1840 5663 7668 5598 8659 7903 7

Livestock Carrier 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 879 

Nuclear Fuel Carrier 0 0 32 0 346 0 0 0 0 

Open Hatch Cargo Ship 13531 10516 12641 9703 15323 8652 14236 17340 12703 9

Palletised Cargo Ship 7197 6943 8553 8667 5597 8421 8662 12889 8548 1

Passenger Ship 22234 17721 21770 20506 29640 36845 45515 40755 34921 2

Passenger/Cruise 7376 7246 18434 7601 27779 91061 113983 116229 57292 1

Passenger/Ro-Ro Ship (Vehicles) 69120 55309 66254 63543 64689 74915 82121 76651 60936 5

Refrigerated Cargo Ship 36582 38120 46425 50190 55563 65918 92381 71808 76696 6

Ro-Ro Cargo Ship 3899 2764 7822 3552 4757 4622 4113 6633 7256 3

Vehicles Carrier 40183 20121 26568 11808 31057 17635 18250 19257 15327 9

169
 

2015 

Vessel Activity in the Arctic 

Appendix 21. Distance travelled (nm) in the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and month

Vessel Type Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep 

Fishing 764901 818832 973653 725910 818563 970672 1021370 970986 1040492 10

Factory Stern Trawler 102223 128940 148493 91530 131317 155174 161610 176604 191674 19

Fish Carrier 4632 7424 9596 12808 8806 11200 14554 15215 15217 1

Fish Factory Ship 4983 5507 7517 7805 6506 10166 12722 7908 11645 6

Fish Farm Support Vessel 2331 3424 4266 1872 2392 3568 4024 4390 4023 4

Fishery Patrol Vessel 0 0 0 0 0 193 849 0 0 

Fishery Research Vessel 2199 1387 3099 2138 5782 4774 3899 7861 7233 4

Fishing Vessel 302692 306040 379022 244443 267608 337209 352871 282810 295973 31

Live Fish Carrier (Well Boat) 17225 16953 20492 21789 38469 40836 28530 28186 28097 3

Seal Catcher 4842 3260 5200 5967 5847 6072 8007 6084 5183 5

Stern Trawler 302365 319102 357461 324671 339477 390783 420871 422786 458445 43

Trawler 21408 26795 38506 12886 12357 10696 13435 19140 23001 2

Miscellaneous 42095 42462 62345 81551 111268 153562 295109 341290 331336 23

Articulated Pusher Tug 0 0 0 0 0 1993 1780 0 0 

Bunkering Tanker 19 6 7 44 48 343 170 342 97 

Buoy & Lighthouse Tender 0 0 0 0 0 924 1290 1330 2345 

Buoy Tender 0 0 0 0 1028 398 7933 2674 5689 2

Cable Layer 2329 1381 2551 2992 3350 956 2313 3513 1954 

Crane Vessel 0 0 72 114 46 0 1655 2556 1847 

Cutter Suction Dredger 0 0 0 0 0 0 1724 0 0 1

Hopper, Motor 94 180 32 877 0 0 4316 8176 7166 9

Hopper/Dredger (unspecified) 0 0 0 0 0 133 145 251 514 

Icebreaker 7444 13210 17091 20461 16570 17127 24076 32279 30881 3

Icebreaker/Research 0 0 0 0 3752 2367 4381 12604 14671 9

Patrol Vessel 9379 9564 10778 13050 9016 8154 9664 9048 9635 9

Pollution Control Vessel 624 686 1005 760 1404 1261 510 502 1043 

Pusher Tug 0 0 0 0 0 1296 1420 3555 5024 1

Research Survey Vessel 6388 4621 9820 20184 35214 57238 105303 114054 113587 6

Salvage Ship 625 94 2012 98 377 1079 89 805 261 

Search & Rescue Vessel 76 392 570 513 509 1038 619 291 107 

Suction Dredger 216 0 240 215 0 1463 1890 591 556 

Suction Hopper Dredger 0 0 0 0 49 0 0 0 47 

Supply Tender 0 0 0 70 369 0 116 137 193 

Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger 0 0 0 0 0 0 19841 32232 21834 1
 

Appendix 21. Distance travelled (nm) in the Arctic by vessel type (vessel type class totals provided in bold) and month 

Vessel Type Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep 

Training Ship 0 244 0 0 0 244 0 0 0 

Tug 11424 9897 15093 19812 33809 55331 103056 112528 107167 6

Utility Vessel 0 26 0 0 0 0 1908 565 1109 

Waste Disposal Vessel 3479 2160 3075 2341 1893 1700 910 705 700 

Work/Repair Vessel 0 0 0 20 3833 519 0 2552 4911 

Offshore 7146 12372 16454 25704 32680 32155 61812 64694 70465 5

Anchor Handling Tug Supply 4451 6252 8532 13230 13941 9646 24103 26050 28371 2

Crew/Supply Vessel 0 0 0 0 0 0 2008 1302 817 

Diving Support Vessel 0 0 0 381 1513 310 1671 640 765 

Drilling Ship 0 0 0 0 0 0 2629 495 1410 

FPSO, Oil 0 0 0 0 0 0 36 0 115 

FSO, Oil 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 692 

Offshore Support Vessel 427 703 300 256 385 1332 3436 1065 288 

Offshore Tug/Supply Ship 939 1484 2627 1051 708 2013 4936 7310 8864 

Pipe Burying Vessel 420 1010 0 0 0 0 0 284 183 

Pipe Layer 0 0 0 780 1293 982 75 26 135 

Platform Supply Ship 807 1284 2445 7111 11492 7801 13429 18762 23139 1

Standby Safety Vessel 103 1639 2551 2896 3348 10072 9489 8761 5687 4

Tankers 87471 89097 96516 99035 103713 106465 146870 180546 188977 1

Asphalt/Bitumen Tanker 0 74 1003 470 1017 318 67 100 1762 

Chemical Tanker 1504 1890 2225 1816 1666 3180 6087 12169 14792 1

Chemical/Products Tanker 43854 42324 42103 39330 48990 54091 67924 83119 82609 4

Crude Oil Tanker 4066 5998 5028 4044 3660 2774 4099 4317 6240 

Crude/Oil Products Tanker 6438 5435 10289 11166 11539 4822 14135 14355 14200 8

LNG Tanker 5439 7302 6888 5441 6142 5412 5049 6939 6575 

LPG Tanker 1267 1211 1423 899 999 989 1918 940 958 

Products Tanker 12076 13192 15959 22934 16054 22467 32830 42441 47558 3

Shuttle Tanker 12828 11671 11586 12901 13593 11383 12899 13863 13281 1

Tanker (unspecified) 0 0 11 35 52 63 206 70 220 

Vegetable Oil Tanker 0 0 0 0 0 966 1657 2232 782 

Total 1676750 1560218 1931987 1587578 1967010 2153355 2580329 2659064 2629702 24

171