Course Description:

The reduction of Arctic sea ice creates increased opportunities for offshore maritime industries. This course uses the developments in the Arctic as a basis for providing an interdisciplinary introduction to offshore activities, the different actors involved, and how the actors affect coastal communities and management of maritime industries. Examples from outside the Arctic will provide context and serve as a basis for comparison for global trends. Students will gain a deeper academic understanding of how environmental, socioeconomic and political drivers have impacted offshore activities such as shipping, navigation, port operations, offshore petroleum, seabed mining, power and telecommunications, security, piracy, and local community‘s socio-economic development.

Learning outcomes

On completion of the course, a student:

can identify the basic international, national, and regional organizations, laws, treaties, and regulations governing navigation, shipping, and offshore activities such as MARPOL, the Polar Code and Heavy Fuel Oil Ban.
has a practical awareness and applicability of management practices for industries operating at sea.
has an understanding of on-shore and off-shore infrastructure (harbors, communication, services) and third-party services (meteorological, communication, Search and Rescue).
can analyze the state of affairs today (economic, political, environmental, social) related to navigation, safety and offshore activities related to key academic literature.
can identify and analyze main factors that may affect the future of shipping and off-shore activities in the Arctic.