We see the Arctic as hugely important, not just for the navy, but for Canada looking forward. The Arctic represents a fundamentally maritime operating environment. It is defined by the ocean; therefore, we see it as a key area for us to be looking forward to operating in over the years and decades ahead.
Obviously, the Arctic offshore patrol ships will play a key role in enabling the RCN, with its other government partners, in opening up our ability to operate and sustain operations in the High Arctic. We've had great success over the preceding years through a series of operations and exercises, cooperating with our coast guard and other government partners in the Operation Nanook series, in Operation QIMMIQ and other operations as recently as just a few months ago.
As we look farther into the future and farther into the north, we recognize that one of the key challenges moving forward is sustainability. We're excited by the opportunity to establish a refuelling facility in Nanisivik, which will allow us to stage ourselves and reach even farther into the north.
I think it would be useful to look to the north as an area of potential development and security challenge—not necessarily security in a true military sense, but security in a broader sense—as we look to the challenges of increased activity in the north. We look at the increased rate of both transit shipping and destination shipping, where we're starting to see levels of activity in the last few years that are well beyond those of the years preceding. It is fair to say that what we'll see over the next three decades in terms of increased activity and growth could, in fact, exceed the level of activity of the preceding three centuries. That's the pace that we anticipate we're going to see in the north.
It's not just about the ships. It's not just about forward operating capability. It's also about new competencies and new procedures. We're looking to the experiences of our coast guard partners with respect to how we can sustain deployed activity in the north, looking at new crewing models, new ways of maintaining a visible presence, a Canadian flag, in essence, in that vast expanse that's so important to us.
We'll also look to the fact that the north, and the Canadian Arctic in particular, is an area that is defined not just by its geography or its oceanography, but also by the politics surrounding expansion in the Arctic. The work of the Arctic Council, the work of our partners in that council, is key to our building not just military capability, but the ability to operate and sustain ourselves, as I've indicated.
I think there are many lessons we can draw from international maritime law and international regulation associated with everything from environmental legislation to safety to issues surrounding contested water space that are going to affect how we see ourselves operating in 2020, 2025 right through to 2050 in the High Arctic.