South Korea ships 44,000 tons of naphtha via the Northern Sea Route- slashes costs, avoids piracy risks

28-Oct-13

Growing global interest in the increasingly open Arctic Ocean shipping route has resulted in South Korea completing its first commercial freight voyage via the Northern Sea Route. Melting ice due to global warming has started to open up sea routes for longer periods. The country’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries has shipped 44,000 tons of naphtha via the Northern Sea Route in a pilot project aimed at slashing energy transport costs and avoiding piracy risks associated with the Suez Canal. Taking the route shortens the voyage as compared to that via the Suez Canal by up to 10 days, although it carries extra costs including the hiring of ice breakers. This route, also a shortcut between Asia and Europe along Russia's Arctic coast, has been eyed with increasing interest by Chinese, Japanese and South Korean energy firms in recent years. The freighter was operated by logistics company Hyundai Glovis, took 35 days to make the 15,000 km long journey from the Russian port of Ust-Luga. Until recently, negotiating the Northern Sea Route was largely left to the specialist vessels of Scandinavian countries like Norway, Sweden and Denmark.