Arctic Mapping to Make Navigating Northwest Passage Safer. Arctic explorers may have come up empty-handed in the search for Sir John Franklin's lost shipwrecked vessels, but the research they did will help future mariners navigating the treacherous the Northwest Passage. But in a bit of Arctic irony, work done during the search in Nunavut will help future mariners navigating through the icy and dangerous waters where HMS Erebus and HMS Terror may have gone down. Hydrographers who were part of the search gathered enough depth and multi-beam sidescan sonar data to create a preliminary electronic chart that expands the area for safe navigation in Alexandra Strait, reducing travel time and saving fuel costs for vessels in the area. Alaska Dispatch

Arctic Innovation Competition Set for Friday at UAF. The annual Arctic Innovation Competition, sponsored by the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Management, is scheduled for 5-7 p.m. Friday at the UAF Wood Center Ballroom. Entrants are asked to propose new, feasible and potentially profitable ideas. Last year, winning ideas included a motorized reciprocating file tool, a power-dense marine motor and a bathtub assist device to aid the elderly or disabled. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Russian Polar Bears in Greater Peril. While arctic sea ice reached a record low this summer, it is not widely known that almost all the ice that melted or drifted away was on the Russian, not the Canadian and Greenlandic side of the great northern sea. One immediate consequence has been further grief and peril for Russia's already seriously distressed polar bear population. "It is worse for Russian polar bears than the bears in Canada or Greenland because the pack ice is retreating much faster in our waters," said Nikita Ovsyannikov, deputy director of Russia's polar bear reserve on Wrangel Island in the Chukchi Sea to the northwest of Alaska. "The best habitat is quickly disappearing. It is extreme." Windsor Star

Russian Ship Back in Port After Arctic Supply Expedition. The ice-class diesel-electric ship, which set out on July 28th, sailed along the entire length of the Northern Sea Route delivering specialists and cargo to hard-to-reach stations located on the coasts and islands of the White, Barents, Kara, Laptev and East Siberian Seas. It had a total of 1,700 tons of cargo for Arctic stations and several research teams on board. Voice of Russia

Can Iceland Establish Itself as an Arctic Coastal Nation? [Opinion] Iceland sits right on the divide between the North American and Eurasian continental plates. A little hotspot of volcanic activity in the North Atlantic, it has tried to rediscover its geopolitical identity several times over the past century. I recently read Klaus Dodds and Valur Ingimundarson's article in the Polar Journal, "Territorial nationalism and Arctic geopolitics: Iceland as and Arctic coastal state." Essentially, what the authors posit is that Iceland has most recently been trying to position itself as an Arctic coastal state. During the Cold War, Iceland enjoyed a strategic position between North America and the USSR. Alaska Dispatch

Begich Receives Upbeat Report from Federal and Industry Officials on 2012 Oil Drilling Season. This summer's preliminary exploratory oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic waters made significant progress toward next season's work and streamlined the way for more aggressive development next year, according to testimony provided by a wide range of local, federal and industry officials during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held in Anchorage on Thursday and chaired by U.S. Sen. Mark Begich. Shell Alaska Vice President Pete Slaiby detailed for Begich his company's progress this year, which included mobilizing two drill ships and more than 20 support vessels, full training of 1,800 personnel and conducted extensive scientific research. Slaiby said the federal regulatory process is working for Shell and that Shell made significant progress this summer. Alaska Native News

$200 Million Alaska-based Research Vessel Prepares to Get its Feet Wet. On Saturday, the $200 million, 261-foot-long research vessel Sikuliaq -- operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks -- finally got its hull wet in the waters off of Marinette, Wisc. For nearly two years, the ship has been getting from-the-ground-up treatment at a shipyard there. The Sikuliaq finally found its way into the water this past weekend at a launch and christening ceremony. That doesn't mean the ship is ready for action, though -- it's still less than 80 percent complete. After that, it faces months of testing. The vessel won't even find its way to Alaska until the end of 2013. But Saturday's ceremony is a big step forward, and it highlights the progress being made on the ship, which is being funded primarily through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the stimulus. Alaska Dispatch

NOAA Official Outlines Arctic Offshore Drilling Lessons Needs. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other federal agencies worked hard in the 18 months leading up to the 2012 Arctic offshore drilling season and came away with important lessons when it ended and a better idea of its future needs, a NOAA official told a US Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Oct. 11. In written testimony, Laura K. Furgione, acting director of NOAA's National Weather Service, said NOAA realized more than ever that it's necessary to consider the variability of the rapidly changing Arctic and shifting historical baseline when making decisions; to appropriately weigh oil and gas development impacts on Alaska, especially North Slope and Native communities; and to increase existing collaboration and communication to improve efficiency and integrated science-based decision-making. Oil and Gas Journal

Russia's Strategic Tasks in Arctic, Global Ocean. On Wednesday, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev attended a keel-laying ceremony of the diesel-powered icebreaker LK-25 in St. Petersburg. Industry experts say the keel-laying of the new generation icebreaker marks a new stage in Russia's exploration of the Arctic region. The state-of-the-art diesel-powered icebreaker LK-25 of ice class Icebreaker 8 will replace the old icebreakers, which were built in the 1980s. With the capacity of 25 MW, the new icebreaker will be capable of sailing the most difficult conditions of the Kara Sea, in any ice situation. Voice of Russia