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Melting ice pulls up Trade

by | 29-08-2013 15:00 recommendations 0

After Collecting a lot of data from all places here it is what is happening today.

The town of Kirkenes in northernmost Norway used to be further away from Asia than virtually any other European port, but it suddenly seems a lot closer. Is it because of Global Warming?


Melting ice has opened up the Northern Sea route along Russia's Arctic coastline, changing international trade patterns in profound ways — even if so far it looks more like a sleepy county road than a busy, four-lane highway. In a change of potentially revolutionary significance, travel time between the Japanese port of Yokohama and Hamburg in Germany has been cut by 40 per cent, while fuel expenditure is down by 20 per cent.


In 2012, when the ice reached its lowest extent on record at 3.4 million square kilometres (1.3 million square miles), 46 ships used the new route, compared with only four in 2010.The traffic is still negligible compared with traditional routes. Ships transit the Panama Canal 15,000 times a year, while passing through the Suez 19,000 times. But the future looks promising.

The volume of goods transported along the Northern Sea route is likely to grow strongly in the coming years, from 1.26 million tonnes last year to 50 million tonnes in 2020.

Kirkenes, whose 3,400 inhabitants live in nearly uninterrupted darkness during the winter months, is suddenly preparing frantically for the expected boom.

The port's location is extremely strategic. It is nine days' travel from both the Pacific and the Mediterranean, and close to major oil and gas deposits in the Arctic, as well as mines in northern Sweden and Finland.

Twenty six of the ships that traversed the Arctic Ocean between Europe and Asia last year were carrying hydrocarbons, while six were transporting iron ore or coal.

The new route also opens up an interesting market for liquefied natural gas (LNG) extracted in the Barents Sea, especially after North America, the customer that local companies initially had in mind, has turned away following a decision to use its own shale gas.

On the other hand, Asia's appetite for gas has increased after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011, and prices there are significantly higher than in Europe. Traditional goods traffic, however, is not realistic in these latitudes.  
 

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10 Comments

  • says :
    thanks for this great article !
    Posted 02-09-2013 18:31

  • says :
    Thanks For Reading the Article Guys.
    Posted 01-09-2013 00:23

Dharmendra Kapri

  • says :
    I guess environmental phenomenons such as melting ice impacts our society in both positive and negative ways. However, like some have mentioned previously, I believe we should equally be concerned about sinking islands and continents that are currently placed in a dire situation.
    Posted 31-08-2013 11:07

  • says :
    This article shows a positive side of melting ice, however we should be more concerned about the sinking of some island and even Japan. But thanks for the cool information
    Posted 31-08-2013 10:51

  • says :
    wow, new information for me on trade route. Thank you fro sharing
    Posted 30-08-2013 17:56

  • says :
    thanks for sharing, nice article!

    Posted 30-08-2013 10:49

  • says :
    that's cool
    Posted 30-08-2013 10:16

  • says :
    Thanks for the information, please put the original link too :-)
    Posted 30-08-2013 08:35

  • Arushi Madan says :
    Interesting article , thanks Akshat.
    Posted 29-08-2013 15:30

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