Arctic Shipping Volume Rises as Ice Melts
Northern Sea Route Primarily Carries Oil, Much of the Cargo Involving Russia
A ship sails the Northern Sea Route, which offers a faster route for some shipments between Europe and Asia, largely for oil products. PHOTOXPRESS/ZUMA PRESS
Cargo shipping volume through the Northern Sea Route is rising as Arctic ice melts, according to a new report.
The opening up of the Arctic for commercial cargo offers a faster route for some shipments between Europe and Asia, and holds the promise of increased trade for once icebound ports in the High North of Arctic countries such as Russia, Norway and Canada.
However, much of the new traffic through the Northern Sea Route is one-way shipments of fossil fuels from Northern Europe to Asia or is between Russian ports, according to a report to be released Friday by the Arctic Institute, a Washington think tank.
The institute said 71 ships carried 1.35 million tons of goods through the route last year. That was up from 46 vessels with 1.26 million tons of cargo the previous year.
The majority of ships originated in Russia and many were from one Russian port to another in the country. Only 41 vessels traveled the full length of the Arctic shipping lane, and of those, 30 ships carried cargo, the report said.
“There’s a lot of talk about it becoming a sort of highway from Europe to Asia, but that’s not really what we’re seeing yet,” said Malte Humpert, the institute’s executive director. Developing Arctic sea ports has become an important objective of the Russian government, he said.
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The Arctic Institute report analyzed data from the Northern Sea Route Information Office, which is run by the Norway’s nonprofit Centre for High North Logistics.
The route, also known as the Northeast Passage, hugs Russia’s northern border and typically is easier to navigate and has less ice buildup than the Northwest Passage, another Arctic route that gets fewer ships and lies closer to Canada. Both routes are only traversable during a short season from late summer to early fall before freezing up again, though that season has lengthened because of climate change. Scientists have said burning fossil fuels helps to contribute to global warming, causing sea levels to rise.
Of the international cargo-bearing voyages using the Northern Sea Route, the Arctic Institute’s report said 67% involved shipments oil products. More goods were shipped from Europe to Asia than the other way around, with more ballast than cargo heading from Asia to Europe, it said.
That Arctic route shaves close to two weeks off a typical voyage from China to Europe—a trip that usually requires sailing through the Suez Canal. Companies whose ships plied the Northern Sea Route between Asia and Europe last year include Nordic Bulk Carriers, a unit of Newport, R.I.’s Pangea Logistics Solutions Ltd., and Athens-based Tsakos Columbia Ship Management SA, according to the NSR Information Office.
Last year, a coal-laden cargo ship became the first bulk carrier to traverse the Northwest Passage through Canadian Arctic waters. That journey cut four days of travel time from a trip between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Pori, Finland. Canada has been eager to assert its sovereignty over the waterway and requires registration for all ships weighing more than 500 tons that use the route.
The institute’s Mr. Humpert said that as recently as the early 1990s the Arctic was virtually impassible because of sea ice, but that there is still enough variability in ice conditions to make it difficult for shippers to forecast how long the routes will stay open each year. “The uncertainty doesn’t realty make it feasible for global cargo where you need to book months ahead,” he said.
