The Alaskan Arctic Summit on Shipping and Ports will take place at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage from August 23-25 to build partnerships to develop safe and reliable shipping through the Alaskan Arctic.

"These partnerships will be necessary to finance needed ports of refuge, search and rescue equipment, transshipment facilities and icebreakers," said conference organiser Alaska Dispatch publisher Alice Rogoff. "At the same time, the interests of local and indigenous residents must be an integral part of any development planning," she said.

Topics for discussion at the meeting will include: developing safe and reliable shipping practices to protect the hunting and fishing and the environment; exploring public-private cooperation models to produce the necessary infrastructure investments; and establishing a task force to offer global shippers a regular, safe and reliable shipping system.

The summit to be convened under the umbrella of the Arctic Circle will also be hosted by the State of Alaska and various partners, including President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson of Iceland and president of Pt Capital and former Alaska lieutenant governor, Mead Treadwell.