Maersk plans to send its first cargo ship from East Asia to Europe via the Northern Sea Route instead of the Suez Canal.
Maersk is the world’s largest container shipping company, The Northern Sea Route is considered as an alternative maritime route for the Suez Canal, which is the southern world’s route linking Asia and Europe.
In few days, the first vessel will sail through the Northern Sea Route from the eastern port of Vladivostok to northeast China through the Bering Strait, to return to the Russian Port of St. Petersburg by the end of September, according to The Financial Times.
Maersk declared that: “This trip is aimed at testing and collecting data about an unknown shipping route, and at present, we do not consider the Northern Sea Route as an alternative path to our traditionally employed courses.
Thanks to the Northern Sea Route, commercial trips between Asia and Europe can be shortened to about a week or two. This route is usually available only in the summer, but global warming, accelerated by the end of the 20th century, gave the opportunity to sail through the course year-round.
The development of the Northern Sea Route comes as part of a strategic plan deployed by Russia aiming to promote the North Pole, an area containing vast reserves of minerals, oil and gas.
Source: Reuters