北冰洋石油争夺战一触即发

    若从别人嘴里说出，这听起来似乎是科幻小说。可韦里克霍夫正在积极与俄国政府就此进行探讨，而且他作为创新大师的履历使他获邀出席楼下的盛会——冰域科技（Icetech）大会。这个活动由安克雷奇北方研究所（Anchorage's Institute of the North）赞助，发起人包括美国前内政部长及前阿拉斯加州长沃尔特•希克尔。

    北方研究所专注于北冰洋政策研究，其成员相信北冰洋正在迅速开放。只要在会场里走走就能很清楚地看到这一点。原为底楼舞厅的会场熙熙攘攘，尽管美国政府尚未正面应对极地议题，但私营公司（通常是其他国家的公司）已经行动起来。

    Arktos船舶公司在加拿大与瑞士均有业务的，它正在展示一种两栖特种船舶，专用于“水与冰交汇的地方”。照片显示，带着安全帽的船员正在北里海冰层覆盖的水下进行疏散工作。这种红色特种船舶可以浮在水面，也能用宽大的轮胎在冰面上像坦克一样轰鸣着奔驰。它们拥有“载着大量物品在碎冰地带和冰水交汇区通行的能力”，宣传册上如是吹嘘。

    芬兰的Aker北极科技公司（Aker Arctic Technology of Finland）宣布，将与俄罗斯企业合作，共同为俄国最大的航运公司Sovcomflot打造一艘全新的“抗石油泄漏破冰船”。

    加拿大海洋咨询公司（Oceanic Consulting Corporation）宣传了“石油与航运业解决方案”，其光面纸印刷的小册子展示了关于船只通过冰原的照片，以及用于测试船体设计的室内冰柜。美国联邦机构、企业和外国政府的代表在会展上往来穿梭。美国海岸警卫队（the US Coast Guard）、壳牌、韩国海事大学（Korea Maritime University）、美国海洋能源管理、监督与执行局（BOEMRE）、加拿大海军（the Canadian Navy）、罗尔斯-罗伊斯船舶（Rolls-Royce Marine）、巴拿马运河港务局（the Panama Canal Authority）和海上直升机公司（Maritime Helicopters）都有人员来访。

    考虑到该会议旨在探讨地球上一块地区的开放，库克船长酒店似乎是很恰当的会址。毕竟该酒店正是以著名英国探险家库克命名，他18世纪进行的海洋探险使当时欧洲人闻所未闻的地带向全世界开放——这些新领地最终被世界列强瓜分。底层大厅墙壁上绘制着缤纷多彩的9英尺高壁画，有的描绘着新西兰（后被英国宣布为领地）的毛利人；有的则展示南太平洋地区（英国人曾在此占据了许多岛屿）；甚至还有从阿拉斯加副州长米德•特里德威尔宅邸——离库克酒店仅5分钟车程——那装着玻璃落地窗的阳台就能看到的水域；还有一幅壁画展示库克的船只在南极洲与一座冰山擦肩而过的情景。

    舞厅里的会议穿插着俄语、芬兰语和韩语。

    轮番上台的演讲者众口一词地告诉全神贯注的听众，北冰洋正在迅速发生变化。

    轮到韦里克霍夫时，他告诉数百位听众，就在当天早上，俄罗斯第一座可移动核电站动工已经开建，日后将被运往北冰洋，为当地社区供应电力。

    他说：“只要把核电站运给客户，接上一两个管线。客户不需要有任何核能相关经验，把核电站放在那里，六十年之后再回来把它运走就行。”

    Coming from someone else these ideas might have seemed like science fiction. But Velikhov was actively involved in discussions with the Russian government about them, and his history as an innovator had gotten him invited to the gathering downstairs—Icetech—sponsored by Anchorage's Institute of the North, started by ex–US secretary of the interior and former Alaska governor Walter Hickel.

    Dedicated to the study of Arctic policy, Institute staffers believed the Arctic was opening fast, and it was clear, walking around in the packed ground-floor-ballroom conference location that although the US government was not dealing head-on with polar issues, private companies, usually from other countries, were.

    Arktos Craft, based in Canada and Switzerland, was showcasing an amphibious craft specializing in "interface between ice and water." Photos showed hard-hatted crew, in ice-covered water, carrying out an evacuation in the North Caspian Sea. The red crafts could float or use wide treads to rumble like tanks over ice. They had "the ability to maneuver through ice rubble fields and ice/water transition zones while carrying heavy loads," the brochure bragged.

    Aker Arctic Technology of Finland announced a joint project with Russian companies to develop a new "oil spill combat icebreaker" for Sovcomflot, the largest Russian shipping company.

    Oceanic Consulting Corporation of Canada promoted "solutions for the Petroleum and Shipping Industries." Glossy brochures showed shots of ships moving through ice fields, and photos of indoor ice tanks for testing hull design. Representatives from US federal agencies, corporations and foreign governments circulated through the exhibition space. The US Coast Guard, Shell, Korea Maritime University, BOEMRE, the Canadian Navy, Rolls-Royce Marine, the Panama Canal Authority and Maritime Helicopters all had people there.

    The Cook Hotel seemed an appropriate venue for a meeting designed to discuss an opening region of earth. After all, the building was named for the famed British Explorer whose sea journeys in the 1700s mapped opening areas of the globe previously unknown to Europeans—new territory eventually claimed by world powers—back then. Colorful nine-foot-tall wall murals on the ground floor showed scenes including Maoris in New Zealand, which Britain would claim; the South Seas, where they made more claims, and even waters lying within view of Mead Treadwell's glassed-in back porch five minutes away. One mural showed Cook's ship near icebergs in Antarctica.

    Conversations in the ballroom went on in Russian, Finnish, Korean.

    Speaker after speaker told the rapt audience that the Arctic was in a state of rapid change.

    Velikhov, during his turn, informed several hundred listeners that on that very morning, Russia's first portable nuclear power plant was being built to be barged up to the Arctic and supply power to communities there.

    "You bring the unit to the customer and make the connection with one or two pipes. Customers not need to have any experience with nuclear power. You drop it off and come back 60 years later and pick it up," he said.