A study to be unveiled at an international meeting next week in Tromso, Norway, could boost measures aimed at protecting Arctic waters in light of growing ship traffic.

The Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment will be released at the meeting of the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental group that includes representatives from Canada, the United States and other northern nations.

At roughly 200 pages long, the report looks at the impact marine traffic —including cruise ships, fishing vessels and tankers — is having on humans and the environment, as Arctic sea ice shrinks and international interest grows in Arctic oil and gas exploration.

"There is an interest in the level of cruise ship activity, not only where they are [but] what they're doing and how they're taking care of themselves and the environment," Chris Cuddy, international chair of the Arctic Marine Protection working group, told CBC News.

Cuddy's group has been preparing the assessment report over the past few years, looking 20 to 30 years ahead at what is needed to improve shipping conditions in the Arctic and protect northerners and the environment.

"The whole issue of the adequacy of the infrastructure in the Arctic is obviously, from a shipping point of view, … a huge issue — whether or not there's enough charting of the waters, enough places of refuge, salvage response, capability [to deal with] … accidents such as [those involving] cruise ships, and so on," Cuddy said.

The assessment includes recommendations to improve search and rescue capabilities in the event of shipping accidents and spills.

The report will also recommend that rules regarding shipping in Arctic waters be strengthened in terms of meeting technical standards and ensuring search and rescue equipment and crew training for Arctic conditions.

Cuddy said Canada, the U.S. and Finland led the marine shipping study and paid for most of it, but all Arctic nations collaborated on it.

Earlier this week, Nunavut Eastern Arctic Shipping (NEAS) announced that it will ship goods by sealift through the Northwest Passage this summer, something the northern shipping firm hasn't done before.

It will make NEAS the second company to operate a sealift through the Northwest Passage. Desgagnés Transarctik Inc., moved cargo from Montreal to the Nunavut hamlets of Cambridge Bay, Kugluktuk, Gjoa Haven and Taloyoak in September.