Climate change is reducing the sea ice in the Arctic and opening up previously inaccessible shipping lanes for longer periods, with the ice-free window currently about three months over the summer.
As the polar sea ice continues to melt, new shortcuts, especially the Northern Sea Route along Russia’s Siberian coast line, have become available as seasonal shipping lanes.
The Northern Sea Route lies entirely in Arctic waters and has been trialed by other shipping lines seeking to take advantage of melting ice from global warming. MSC is convinced that the 21 million containers moved each year for its customers can be transported around the world without passing through this Arctic corridor.
MSC’s decision to avoid the Northern Sea Route is complementary to the company’s broader strategic approach to sustainability. To help tackle climate change, MSC completed a program to retrofit more than 250 ships in its existing fleet with the latest green technologies, cutting about 2 million tons of CO2 emissions each year.
Maritime Business World