Economic Possibilities of Shipping though Northern Sea Route1

Abstract

Global warming and climate change haves brought a new issue in the Arctic sea. Therefore, we can now explore new shipping routes through the Arctic Ocean instead of the existing commercial route. In particular, the Northern Sea Route (NSR) is one of the feasible shipping routes and, has provided tremendous shipping benefits. If the NSR becomes commercialized, we will be able to save about 5,000 nautical miles in distance and sailing time. In this study, we will emphasize some of the important results on the possibility of commercializing the shipping route in the Arctic. The NSR may bring positive economic effects in terms of shipping distance and time. For example, when utilizing the NSR, the maximum cargo traffic between Asia and Europe is expected to be around 46 million TEU. However, we also need to consider an expensive passage fee that is currently imposed by Russia. In conclusion, we maintain our efforts to protect the environment in the Arctic, in terms of logistics, and we need to explore every possible avenue to bring possible economic benefits to the North Pacific countries.

Keywords

• Northern Sea Route
• Arctic Sea
• O/D Analysis
• SP Survey