(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Ocean Policy Task Force has completed a fact-finding mission in the Arctic region of Alaska, the geopolitical information Web site ISRIA.com reported. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen said the biggest challenge he faces would be a mass-casualty maritime incident in the Arctic Ocean above Alaska’s North Slope. The nearest permanent Coast Guard presence is in Kodiak, about 1,000 miles away.
