Heavy ice strengthening required for regular Arctic operation
Norwegian risk management company Det Norske Veritas (DNV) has carried out a feasibility study to evaluate the possible advantages of utilizing the shorter trans-Arctic route between Asia and Europe and benchmarked it against the traditional Suez route.
Climate change, which is causing summer ice to lessen and possibly not occur in the future, has initiated the new focus on the alternative route, a press release from DNV reads. The DNV feasibility study concludes that no year-round regular container shipping trades crossing the Arctic area are foreseen within the coming decades, even although the trans-Arctic route will significantly reduce the sailing distance between some of the world’s major markets. In order to establish regular year-round trans-Arctic containership operations, heavy ice strengthening of hulls, upgrading of equipment and components, and requirements to minimize emissions and improve icebreaking capabilities must be implemented. The additional cost for a high ice class and upgraded equipment and components, together with reduced regularity, makes regular trans-Arctic container operations less favourable than the traditional route through the Suez Canal. Future reductions in ice extent will lessen the difference, and the most favourable routes will start to be more economically attractive within a couple of decades, the study reads.
