the northwest passage

These are not small airplanes.
I just talked to Adm. Arthur Brooks, the guy in charge of the Coast Guard in Alaska, about the work they're doing up north. They called today, and have been offering interviews, I guess as part of their effort to increase their presence up there. Late last month, they flew a C-130 from Barrow up around the North Pole as part of a series of scouting missions to see what's going on and figure out how well their equipment will work in an arctic environment. Now they're doing regular trips.
With shrinking sea ice, they're seeing more activity up north than ever before -- cruise ships, for instance -- and want to prepare themselves for increased traffic in the future. They're checking out whether they need more navigational buoys, and what they'll have to do to be prepared for rescue missions in the Arctic Ocean.
It will probably take some additional funds, according to Brooks.
There was a lot of coverage this summer of international jockeying for newly accessible ocean and sub-sea lands. That's not up to the Coast Guard to figure out, but it does affect them.
"I do not know what I'm responsible for," Brooks said.