Commercial Arctic shipping through the Northeast Passage: routes, resources, governance, technology, and infrastructure

The Russian and Norwegian Arctic are gaining notoriety as an alternativemaritime route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and as sources ofnatural resources. The renewed interest in the Northeast Passage or theNorthern Sea Route is fueled by a recession of Arctic sea ice coupled with thediscovery of new natural resources at a time when emerging and global marketsare in growing demand for them. Driven by the expectation of potential futureeconomic importance of the region, political interest and governance has beenrapidly developing, mostly within the Arctic Council. However, this paperargues that optimism regarding the potential of Arctic routes as an alternative tothe Suez Canal is overstated. The route involves many challenges: jurisdictionaldisputes create political uncertainties; shallow waters limit ship size; lack ofmodern deepwater ports and search and rescue (SAR) capabilities requires shipsto have higher standards of autonomy and safety; harsh weather conditions andfree-floating ice make navigation more difficult and schedules more variable;and more expensive ship construction and operation costs lessen the economicviability of the route. Technological advances and infrastructure investmentsmay ameliorate navigational challenges, enabling increased shipping of naturalresources from the Arctic to global markets.

Til publikasjon: https://doi.org/10.1080/1088937X.2014.965769, https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3484901 | Publiseringsår: 2014 | Tidsskrift: Polar Geography