ULUKHAKTOK/HOLMAN
The first uxury cruise through the Northwest Passage is scheduled to begin later this month, but critics warn the cost of travelling through the fabled waterway could be far more than just the price of a ticket.

The Crystal Serenity, pictured here in Antarctica, is scheduled to begin the first-ever luxury cruise of the Northwest Passage on Aug. 16.  - photo courtesy of Crystal Cruises

"The Northwest Passage is a remote and dangerous place," said Michael Byers, author of the book Who Owns the Arctic and a Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law.

"The waters are relatively shallow. They're poorly charted."

The Crystal Serenity, a 70-tonne cruise ship carrying more than 1,000 passengers and 600 crew, is scheduled to begin its month-long journey through the Northwest Passage on Aug. 16.

The ship is expected to leave Alaska that day and arrive in New York on Sept. 16.

Ulukhaktok is just one of the communities passengers will visit along the way.

"We're really excited," senior administrative officer Judi Wall said. "A little bit nervous, but really excited at the same time."

Ulukhaktok residents are preparing to create experiences visitors won't soon forget, she said.

Mayor Laverna Klengenberg and the Ulukhaktok Western Drummers and Dancers are expected to board the ship to greet passengers when tourists arrive on Aug. 26.

The following morning, groups of 150 passengers will be taken to and from Ulukhaktok on a rotational basis throughout the day, from about 8 a.m. until 6 p.m.

"We worked really closely with the Crystal Serenity," Wall said. "They're only allowing about 150 people on shore at a time."

Residents in traditional clothing will serve tea and bannock before allowing passengers to explore the community. Guides will be placed throughout town to provide information and to ensure no one is walking on private property, Wall said.

Visitors will also be encouraged to play golf at the Northernmost 9-hole course in the world and participate in small hands-on workshops by the community's artists, including knitting with qiviuk (muskox wool), making mitts, print-making and carving.

Wall said she believes the community of 400 residents is ready to handle the influx of tourists.

Crystal Cruises also provided information about its capacity to respond to emergency situations, Wall said.

"I feel that they've kind of covered all of their bases as far as safety in the remote areas that they're going to be going into," she said.

The Canadian Coast Guard agrees, said Peter Garapick, superintendent of search and rescue for the Canadian Coast Guard's central and Arctic regions.

Garapick said the ship is well-equipped to deal with emergencies.

"That vessel has many life boats on board, covered life boats, it has its own chartered ice breaker," he said. "There are two helicopters and it's got ice pilots, special experience sea captains on board and special radar."

The RSS Ernest Shackleton will travel with the Crystal Serenity and high-tech radar equipment is expected to warn of potential dangers.

"Additional equipment includes the technology to receive real-time satellite transmissions from Canadian Ice Services so the captain and bridge team can have knowledge of the most recent ice conditions at their fingertips," the company's website stated. "Very few commercial vessels have this technology, and it will help ensure Crystal Serenity has the most advanced technology available to avoid unexpected ice or underwater obstacles."

Garapick said agencies in Canada and the U.S. have been collaborating with the company to prepare for the journey.

"The U.S. Coast Guard, the Canadian Coast Guard, Transport Canada has worked closely with Crystal (Cruises) to be sure that we're prepared for their route and where they will be going and when they will be going," he said.

Ice conditions for the voyage are looking favourable, said Doug Leonard, a senior ice forecaster with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

"At any point in the Northwest Passage they can run into some ice, but I'll say the majority of their passage is probably going to be fairly ice-free," Leonard said.

There is still some ice in Victoria Strait, Peel Sound and near Cornwallis Island, but ice melt is taking place almost a month earlier than usual for this time of year, he added.

"Looking at the whole Northwest Passage as a whole, we're about three weeks ahead of normal," Leonard said.

"(The ice coverage is) among the lowest that we've ever seen at this time of year," Leonard said.

It's the Crystal Serenity's hefty price tag that makes it so safe, Byers said.

Tickets for the Northwest Passage voyage start at $21,000 and can cost up to $120,000.

"They are doing everything properly, perhaps because their passengers are paying so much money that it's financially possible to do everything well," Byers said.

Other, cheaper cruise lines won't be able to provide that same level of safety, he added.

"The Crystal Serenity will open the door to other large cruise ships, some of them from companies that won't take the same high level of safety preparation," he said.

"Imagine for instance Costa sending a ship through. This is a company that lost a cruise ship with quite a few deaths along the coast of Italy a few years ago."

The Crystal Serenity is relatively small compared to cheaper cruise lines that carry upwards of 3,000 passengers, Byers said.

"The question is ... whether these lower cost cruise lines with more passengers will be taking adequate safety measures and related to that, whether the Canadian government has the capacity to mount a rescue operation if 3,000 people are involved," Byers said.

Oil spills are another concern.

"A large cruise ship will carry more than 1 million litres of fuel oil on board," Byers said. "So there is always a risk of a substantial oil spill."

Cleaning up an oil spill in the passage would be virtually impossible, especially if winter closed in.

"The risk is certainly there of an accident that could result from either a mechanical failure or from human error," Byers said.

"There is very little capacity to clean up an oil spill in the Northwest Passage."

Crystal Cruises contacted Byers inviting him to join a team of experts, photographers and naturalists on board the ship, but he declined.

"It wasn't because of a concern with Crystal per se, but the fact that this voyage and the voyages that will follow are, from my perspective, morally problematic, he said.

"They're seeking to visit an ecosystem that is being destroyed by climate change and in going there, are contributing to climate change."

Tickets for the 2016 cruise ship were sold out by April and Crystal Cruises is already planning another voyage to take place next summer.

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