Much of the new traffic through the Northern Sea Route is one-way shipments of fossil fuels from Northern Europe to Asia or is between Russian ports. Wall Street Journal photo.
Reported in the Wall Street Journal:
The opening up of the Arctic for commercial cargo offers a faster route for some shipments between Europe and Asia, and holds the promise of increased trade for once icebound ports in the High North of Arctic countries such as Russia, Norway and Canada.
However, much of the new traffic through the Northern Sea Route is one-way shipments of fossil fuels from Northern Europe to Asia or is between Russian ports, according to a report to be released Friday by the Arctic Institute, a Washington think tank.
“There’s a lot of talk about it becoming a sort of highway from Europe to Asia, but that’s not really what we’re seeing yet,” said Malte Humpert, the institute’s executive director. Developing Arctic sea ports has become an important objective of the Russian government, he said.