Queen Elizabeth Islands on the east, Parry Channel on the south and the Arctic Ocean to the north and west. Most are uninhabited although the Natural Resources Canada's Climate Change Geoscience Program Earth Sciences Sector (ESS), has monitors on the islands. In 1969 Panarctic Oils, now part of Suncor began operating exploration oil wells in the Sverdrup and Franklinian basins and planned on establishing its resource base in the Queen Elizabeth Islands. It ceased production in the 1970s. At the 2013 GeoConvention the Arctic Islands region were called Canada's perpetual "last petroleum exploration frontier". Hogg and Enachescu argued that the development and implementation
MS Queen Elizabeth maiden voyage to the Canary Islands the following day. The Queen was also the sponsor of the now-retired "Queen Elizabeth 2" in 1967 and Cunard's current flagship, "Queen Mary 2", in 2004. The first master of "Queen Elizabeth" was Captain Christopher Wells. On Monday 4 October 2010 "Queen Elizabeth" was formally handed over to Cunard. She sailed on her maiden voyage from Southampton on Tuesday 12 October 2010, following a naming ceremony with the monarch on Monday 11 October 2010. At the end of October 2011 "Queen Elizabeth" and her fleet mates changed their registries to Hamilton, Bermuda, in order