Friday, August 30th, 2013
SEOUL, KOREA- Hyundai Glovis, the shipping arm of Hyundai Motor, will begin a test service on the Russian Arctic route carrying oil, the first such trial among Korean shipping companies. The company said on August 29 that it would take the northern route when it carries in mid-September 37,000 tons of naphtha Yeochun NCC is importing from Russia's NovaTek.
The 15,500-kilometer journey from Rotterdam to the port of Gwangyang in the south of Korea will take 35 days, of which a 4,200-kilometer section will be on the Arctic Sea. The ship sailing the northern route is expected to save 6,700 kilometers, or 10 days, compared with the 40-day, 22,000-kilometer trip through the Indian Ocean and Suez Canal.
A company official said, "Up until now, the pathway has been used by a few European and Russian shippers. Once the new trial proves successful, we will be able to reap huge benefits from this." The route is open each year for about four warm months until October. Within three to five years from now, the Arctic Ocean could be ice-free in the summer, according to a White House estimate.