The Real Dangers of Arctic Drilling. [Opinion] Shell Oil has called it quits for this year on its first Arctic drilling rig. First, there was danger of a city-size chunk of floating ice smashing into the rig just hours after exploratory drilling began. Days later, a test of its oil-spill containment dome ended in a tangled mess on the ocean bottom. This is the same company whose spill-containment vessel hasn't passed government safety inspections, whose drilling rig broke loose from its anchor and nearly smashed into the shore before it even left harbor and whose drilling fleet doesn't meet U.S. pollution standards. Politico

Scientists Team With U.S. Coast Guard to Explore Ice-Free Arctic Ocean. With the melting ice in the Arctic, U.S. Coast Guard crews based in Alaska have taken on a new challenge: carefully deploying scientific equipment through cracks in the ice from an airplane hundreds of feet in the air. It's all part of a new partnership that has evolved since disappearing Arctic ice has opened vast new frontiers -- for the Coast Guard and for University of Washington scientists. Science Daily

Canadian Coast Guard Ship Pierre Radisson Returns From the Arctic. The Honourable Keith Ashfield, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, is pleased to welcome back today the crew members of the CCGS Pierre Radisson, the first of the Canadian Coast Guard Ships to return from its missions in the Arctic in 2012. "This is the CCGS Pierre Radisson's 33rd Northern mission and the third time the Canadian Coast Guard has participated in Operation Nanook, confirming our commitment to contributing to implementing the Government of Canada's Northern Strategy," said Minister Ashfield. "This summer, the CCGS Pierre Radisson continued its search and rescue, icebreaking, commercial shipping assistance, scientific research, and navigational aid and waterway maintenance missions in areas such as Frobisher Bay, Hudson Bay and Churchill." MarketWire

Foreign Spies Target the Arctic. Newspaper Aftenposten reported this week that foreign spies are using established and new methods to illegally gain information on developments in the Barents and other Arctic areas, much of which is Norwegian territory. A growing number of international players in the area has also led to the boom in spying against the two Scandinavian countries. "I can confirm that we, like our Danish sister organization, are seeing increased intelligence gathering in this area," Martin Bernsen of Norway's police intelligence unit PST (Politiets sikkerhetstjeneste) told Aftenposten. "We see that certain countries are actively trying to gain a foothold in the far north." News and Views from Norway

Norway Port Set to Boom on Iron Ore to China: Freight. Three yellow construction cranes tower over heavy machinery and clusters of workers as they bustle in the Norwegian Arctic drizzle to get a new iron ore terminal ready by the beginning of next year. The port of Narvik, where the waters around a ship at the existing loading quay are tainted red by iron ore dust, is preparing for an economic boom. Iron ore from neighboring Sweden via Narvik is forecast by the port to surge fivefold by 2025, much of it bound for China. That is bringing wealth to a city lacking the oil riches most of Norway enjoys. Narvik is banking on Northland Resources SA (NAUR) which, like Sweden's LKAB, is ramping up production at its Swedish iron ore mines. Northland plans to start extraction in Kaunisvaara in the fourth quarter and make its first shipments from Narvik early next year. The stock could more than double in value in the coming 12 months, according to the average share price estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Bloomberg Businessweek

Russia Could Resume Subcritical Nuclear Bomb test Arctic, Sources Say. Russia has beefed up military security surrounding its old Arctic nuclear test archipelago of Novaya Zemlya in preparation for so-called subcritical nuclear tests of its old nuclear weapons, unconfirmed reports in Russia's Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper indicate. The tests, which would take place in Novaya Zemlya's underground tunnel complex, are necessary in order to inspect Russia's aging stockpiles of nuclear weapons - the world's largest - the source, identified by the paper as working with Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom, said. Sergei Novikov, an official spokesman for the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, would not comment on Nezavisimaya Gazeta's report when reached by telephone. Bellona

Coast Guard Cutter Sails With Aviation Detachment. It takes a great amount of teamwork to complete Coast Guard missions.  Forward deployed assets like the Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf, a national security cutter, cooperate with other Coast Guard units while underway to execute the Coast Guard's 11 statutory missions.  One type of unit that supports the ship is the onboard aviation detachment. Bertholf often sails with a deployed Coast Guard helicopter and crew, called the aviation detachment. The AVDET is under the direction of the senior pilot, an aircraft commander. The helicopters, most often MH-65 Dolphin helicopters, are used to augment or extend the range and capabilities of Bertholf's sensors. The helicopter crews can operate covertly in total darkness, closely monitoring suspect vessels on the water or as long range reconnaissance to detect things like the ice. Military.com