The President of the Nautical Institute, the worldwide representative organisation for maritime professionals has told its Irish branch that reality must be separated from the myths about shipping using Polar waters writes Tom MacSweeney.

Capt. David (Duke) Snider from Canada has written the Institute's book on ice navigation 'Polar Ship Operations'. He told Institute members at a meeting in the National Maritime College in Cork that the vast majority of operators in Polar waters had a lot of experience and were "long-term" players in the region.

It was a myth that "wild cowboys" of shipping were "roaring through the Arctic polluting and destroying the environment". He said that global climate change had opened up the Arctic. Change was visual and real.

The Polar Code has been introduced by the International Maritime Organisation. It did not have everything in it that everyone wanted but it was a start and more work was necessary and would be done on it.