2016-08-16

Russia Proposes Shipping From Murmansk to New York Shipping

Russia is selling China on a new shipping route: China-Kazakstan-Murmansk-New York. It says it can cut the time of shipping through the Suez and Panama canals.

New icebreakers will be needed.
Director of the International Centre for Regional Development of Russia Mylar Neil, said the project in the future there is a possibility, but there is a more convenient logistics route north. Experts believe that: "The project in the future there is a possibility, because the next generation of Russian icebreaker LK-110Ya type will have direct access to the North Pole through North American ports but the best immediate loading of the goods through Northern Sea Route from Vladivostok directly. transport, so as to avoid unnecessary transport of goods. "he also stressed that the implementation of the project requires a large number of investments.
iFeng: 俄提出中美“新交通走廊”:比走苏伊士和巴拿马还快

Many aren't sold on the idea.

Bloomberg BNA: Hopes for Arctic Shipping Cool Amid Other Interests
For the most part, Arctic trade will continue to mean moving natural resources out of the Arctic to global markets, said University of Alaska Fairbanks professor and former U.S. Coast Guard Officer Lawson Brigham. “Not container shipping, not retooling global trade routes.”

In the decades ahead small niche markets will likely take advantage of melting ice to conduct ocean-to-ocean shipping in the summer, and the region will continue to see bulk carriers, tankers and liquid natural gas carriers, Brigham explained.

“Arctic sea ice is retreating in profound ways,” said Brigham. “However, the Arctic is still covered in ice seven to nine months out of the year and will be into the foreseeable future.”

...“It’s all about economies of scale,” Carmel told Bloomberg BNA, explaining that just because a route might be shorter does not make it less expensive. Due to the shallow depths of the Northwest Passage, ships passing through would be forced to carry less cargo than on a traditional route, increasing the cost on a per-unit basis, Carmel said. “I don’t ever foresee the Northwest Passage being useful on a meaningful scale,” he said. “As long as it’s cheaper, companies will use the traditional routes.”
The Bloomberg article goes into a lot of detail for those interested.

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