WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Arctic is thought to contain enormous untapped resources of oil and gas. Five of the Arctic Circle countries, including the United States, Russia, Canada, Norway and Denmark, have expressed significant interest to explore these national resources.
"The Arctic Coast Guard Forum is an operationally-focused, consensus-based organization with the purpose of leveraging collective resources to foster safe, secure, and environmentally responsible maritime activity in the Arctic," the release stated.
Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Russia and the United States are members of the new Forum.
“Today’s historic Arctic Coast Guard Forum represents a critical step forward in our collective efforts to promote safety, security and environmentally-responsible maritime activity in the Arctic,” US Coast Guard Commandant Paul Zukunft said.
