Chinese Shipping Group Cosco Planning Regular Trans-Arctic Sailings
Declining Arctic sea ice may make shorter route to Europe viable
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The Hong Kong-flagged Nordic Barents, carrying 40,000 ton of iron ore, leaves Kirkenes in the north of Norway on its way to China via the Northern Sea Route linking Europe and Asia via the Arctic ocean. Photo: Helge Sterk/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
“The group is actively studying the feasibility of operating regular services on the northern route,” a spokesman for the company, known as Cosco, told The Wall Street Journal. “We are considering to buy secondhand ships or build new ships for the potential routine services.”
Cosco made its plans public after two successful test runs of its Yong Sheng general cargo ship, one back in 2013 and the second this month. The vessel is the only one in the Cosco fleet equipped with an icebreaking hull.
Europe is China’s biggest trading partner, and Chinese state media have described the 3,400-mile Northern Sea Route as the “most economical solution” for China-Europe shipping. Moscow actively advertises the Russian-controlled NSR as an alternative to the Suez route, and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said he expects more than 10 million tons of cargo to be shipped annually over the next decade. So far, the NSR’s record volume was in 2013, when 1.4 million tons of cargo went through on a total of 71 ships.
Cosco officials said they would probably lay out their plans for an NSR fleet by the end of the year.
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“The Cosco plan shows the potential of the NSR, but a lot more needs to be done to turn it into a major sea route,” Mr. Gummarson said. “The ports along the route need to be developed to handle more cargo, along with plans to tackle oil spills and search-and-rescue operations. As temperatures get warmer, navigation becomes easier, but ice-class ships are expensive to build and in parts of the passage the waters are quite shallow, allowing only medium-sized vessels to pass through.”
Shipowners agree it will take years to determine whether the route will become commercially viable. “The NSR will never seriously rival the Suez but, if temperatures continue to rise, it will certainly become much busier,” said a Greek owner who charters container vessels to Chinese companies trading with Europe.
ENLARGE The NSR, at around 8,100 nautical miles, is about 2,400 nautical miles shorter than the Suez Canal route for ships traveling from Shanghai to Rotterdam, Netherlands, according to the NSR Information Office.
“The Arctic route can cut 12 to 15 days from traditional routes,” Mr. Gummarson said. “The travel window opens in July and closes in November, with September and October where there is very little ice across the route.”
Current Arctic ice concentration is around half of what it was in 1979, according to the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center. “What we have seen this summer reinforces our conclusions that Arctic sea-ice extent is in a long-term decline and that we are headed for a seasonally ice-free ocean,” said Mark Serreze, director of the center.
The benchmark Asia-to-Europe shipping route accounts for 15% of the global total. When sailing the NSR, ships from China sail across the Bering Strait, through the East Siberian Sea and the Vilkitsky Strait and then on to European ports.
China has made no secret of its interest in the Arctic passage. In 2013, Beijing obtained “permanent observer” status at the Arctic Council, which consists of eight countries with territory in the region.
