The Danish Maritime Authority (DMA) has decided to restrict most cruise ships to operate only on the south and west coasts of Greenland due to concerns over the availability of Search and Rescue (SAR) capacity on the island, a senior DMA executive said. Ships with capacity for more than 250 passengers would only be allowed to operate in the said area. In addition, new rules that are expected to take effect from the spring of 2015 will have to be ice strengthened if 10% of the voyage is expected to take place in ice conditions and the master or chief officer must have experience of at least three months in navigating in ice conditions. In addition, cruise ships that head for Greenland need to make contingency plans and coordinate their voyage with other ships in the area, while the master will have to make a risk assessment for the voyage, said Francis Zachriasen, deputy director general of DMA. Danish, Norwegian and Canadian satellites will be in position to provide AIS (automated identification system) information for ships in the waters of Greenland, which will help ships to plan their voyage and to coordinate it with other vessels in the region, he told a conference in Copenhagen last week. The legislation has passed Danish parliament, but it needs t be passed by the Greenland parliament as well. General elections are to be held shortly on the island that is a Danish crown dependency and the bill is expected to pass the legislature there next spring, Zachriasen said. Vessels with capacity for fewer than 250 passengers would be allowed further north than the larger ships on condition that they have ice class. About 17,000 passengers cruise in the waters of Greenland each year.