CP: U.S. should patrol Arctic, scientists say

[tuvor]

WASHINGTON—A U.S. scientist told a congressional committee yesterday the country urgently needs new American icebreakers for Arctic waters, partly to maintain a national presence amid Canada's sovereignty claims.

Mead Treadwell, chairman of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, said building more icebreakers is vital to conducting research, accessing future oil supplies and mapping areas outside the 370-kilometre limit.

"We're hearing a lot from Canada's prime minister about sovereignty issues in the North," Treadwell told a House of Representatives transportation subcommittee. "Whether or not the U.S. accedes to the Convention on the Law of the Sea, we must conduct surveys of our nation's extended continental shelf in order to support our claims of sovereignty," he said.

The U.S. has not ratified the convention that recognizes a 370-km exclusive economic zone off a country's coast.

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