ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY OF CONTAINER, FINISHED VEHICLE AND LNG TRANSPORT BY ARCTIC SHIPPING

ABSTRACT Northern Sea Route (NSR) shipping has recently gained a momentum for maritime trade between East Asia and Northwest Europe, taking the direct effect of reduced shipping distance of approximately 40% compared to the conventional Suez Canal Route (SCR) into account. A common platform of cost estimation assumptions was proposed by the recent studies through clarifying and analyzing cost components referring to the literatures as well as the most recent interviews of the NSR shipping professionals (Furuichi, M. and Otsuka, N. (2012, 2013)). The NSR/SCR-combined shipping, when a vessel transits the NSR during the warmer months and the SCR in the colder months, was also proposed as a realistic scenario for the arctic shipping. The NSR/SCR-combined shipping of container transport between East Asia and Northwest Europe was studied as economically feasible, energy-efficient and carbon-dioxide-efficient when realistic figures are assumed (for example, the fuel cost, the NSR fee, and the NSR service period). This paper examines the economic feasibility of container transport as well as finished vehicle transport by the NRS/SCR-combined shipping, and LNG transport by the simple NSR shipping between East Asia and Northwest Europe. More annual voyages and reduced transport time of the NSR/SCR-combined shipping are significant advantages against the SCR shipping, especially when the vessel is carrying high value cargoes such as containers and finished vehicles.