Northern Sea Route - Commercial Value

Commercial Value

Gains from shipping on an ice-free Northern Sea Route would be reduced number of days at sea and more than a doubling of the vessel fuel efficiency if shipping from northern European to northern Pacific ports. For the corporate players in bulk shipping of relative low value raw materials, cost savings for fuel may appear as a driver to explore the Northern Sea Route for commercial transits, and not necessarily reduced lead time. The Northern Sea Route allows economies of scale compared to coastal route alternatives, with vessel draught and beam limitation. Environmental demands faced by the maritime shipping industry may emerge as one of the drivers for developing the Northern Sea Route. Increased knowledge about environmental benefits and costs for both the Northern Sea Route and Suez routes will probably be important factors in this respect.

In August of 2012, Russian media source reported that 85% of vessels transiting the Northern Sea Route in 2011 were carrying gas or oil, and 80 percent were high-capacity tankers.