Canada Maritime Conference: Northwest Passage Hailed As Potential Trade Corridor.(Conference notes)

Publication: Canadian Sailings

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COPYRIGHT 2007 Commonwealth Business Media

BYLINE: By Alan Daniels

Canada''s Northwest Passage will become an international waterway for commercial shipping that may one day rival the Panama Canal, delegates to the second annual Canada Maritime Conference were told by an environmental lawyer.

Joseph Spears, who heads Horseshoe Bay Marine Group, said environmental protection of the waterway should be an international responsibility. But he cautioned that commercial interests, particularly resource development, likely will push the issue of sovereignty into the background.

The fabled passage - the focus of a long-standing sovereignty debate between Canada and the U.S. - cuts about 4,000 nautical miles off a voyage from northern Europe to Asia. Currently, there is no commercial shipping on the route, although it is used by research vessels and small cruise ships.

"It''s clear...

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