Abstract

Although historically ice-covered, the Northwest Passage (NWP)—a maritime corridor located in the Canadian Arctic—has been experiencing melting trends in recent decades. Declining sea ice concentrations would lead to improved navigability along the NWP, suggesting promising opportunities for both domestic and international shippers. With vessel traffic expected to rise, and the lack of emergency response resources currently stationed in the region, Canada would be responsible for equipping its North with a search and rescue (SAR) network that is capable of providing relief to the users of its waterways. Since the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) oversees the majority of SAR activities in Canada, the distribution of its response aircraft throughout the Arctic is crucial in the design of a successful response network. To address these concerns, we formulated the location problem as an integer linear program (ILP) that looked to determine optimal sites for aeronautical SAR stations and the allocation of aircraft so that the weighted primary and secondary coverage of demand points was maximized. To do so, we modelled the response capacities of the RCAF's fleet by designing a set of response functions based on each asset's performance specifications. We analyzed 29 arrangements across two cases: one in which the secondary coverage of demand points was optional (Case A), and another in which it was mandatory (Case B). Using six to seven aircraft, our approach led to three arrangements that would best address SAR concerns in the North: Arrangement 7A which was proposed for Case A, Arrangement 6B for Case B, and Arrangement 7B as a compromise of the two.