Arctic Commercial Shipping and the Strategic Significance of the Northern Sea Route report cited

Oceanic shipping through the Arctic Circle isn’t likely to have much impact on global transport and investments in harbors, including the deepening of the Port of Savannah, a new report suggests.

There has been plenty of buzz about whether shipping along the fabled Northwest Passage will be a disruptor. The theory is that global warming will shrink sea ice and allow freighters to navigate the route. The Arctic Institute’s report issued in October dismisses such talk as, “overstated.”

-snip-

Armed security is one cost that could be trimmed as the need to defend against pirates in the Indian Ocean is eliminated, according to a report from the non-profit Stimson Center. The Yong Sheng is said to be the first Chinese vessel to ever navigate the high latitude route across the continent.

According to a report from the Stimson Center:

  • “As a result of steadily retreating summer ice margins in the Kara Sea, the Laptev Sea and East Siberian Sea, increasing fuel costs for merchant vessels, and the extant threat of piracy in the northern Indian Ocean, the NSR [Northern Sea Route] has in very recent times become of clear commercial interest to global maritime trade.”

To continue reading click here.

Subscription Options

* indicates required

Research Areas

Pivotal Places

Publications & Project Lists

38 North: News and Analysis on North Korea