Title: The Arctic Sea Route

Authors: Risto Laulajainen

Addresses: Gothenburg Business and Law School, POB 630, Vasagatan 1, SE-40530 Gothenburg, Sweden

Abstract: The thawing of Arctic areas will open all-year sea routes between the northern Atlantic and the northern Pacific, reduce the travel time between them in summer by 10-35%, make ten mill. sq-km accessible to mining and add one Middle East sized deposit to global hydrocarbon resources. The changes will downsize the role of the Suez and Panama Canals, actualise issues of sovereignty and maritime right-of-way and affect potentially 20-25% of the ocean-going container tonnage. In this study, physical setting, traffic potential, route options and political issues of the Arctic Sea Route are discussed.

Keywords: Arctic sea routes; Arctic Ocean; cargo flows; choke points; law of sea; mineral resources; seaways; Arctic thawing; mining; hydrocarbon resources; sovereignty; maritime right-of-way; traffic potential; route options; political issues; permafrost; sea ice; Northeast passage; Northwest passages; cargo volume; climate change; global warming; shipping logistics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTL.2009.021976

International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics, 2009 Vol.1 No.1, pp.55 - 73

Published online: 15 Dec 2008 *

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