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  • 2013 October 17

    Canada at North West Passage

    Canada responds to Russia’s Northern Sea Route with the North West Passage. First transit voyage from Canada to Finland was made via this route in September 2013. It is supposed to be developed as an alternative to the Panama Canal as well as to the Northern Sea Route. 

    By hummock routes

    As ice melts in the Arctic, we see the growing interest to its water ways which can be used as a transit trade lane. Not only NSR is in the focus today.

    In September 2013, 255-meter long bulk carrier NORDIC ORION, an ice-class 1A ship, with 73,500 tonnes of coal for the Finnish company Ruukki Metals Oy made the first ever transit voyage along the North West Passage from Vancouver in Canada to the port of Pori in Finland. The route was planned in close coordination with the Canadian Coast Guard to ensure a safe execution. The ship was issued an Arctic Pollution Prevention Certificate by Transport Canada before departure to ensure compliance with Canadian regulations.   

    According to the ship owner Nordic Bulk Carriers, the North West Passage is more than 1.000 nautical miles shorter than the traditional shipping route through the Panama Canal and saves time, fuel and what is more important increases the amount of cargo per transit with 25%. The fuel savings add up to approximately USD 80,000 and the ship carried 15.000 additional tonnes of coal. The company saved USD 200,000 particularly owing to the Canadian Government which covered the costs of the icebreaker escort. Otherwise these costs would make $50,000 per day. However, this voyage would be economically viable anyway.

    West and East

    The North West Passage can actually be considered as an alternative to the Panama Canal and as a rival to the North East Passage, known as the Northern Sea Route in Russia. According to rough estimations, the majority of destinations for which ship owners are ready to use the Northern Sea Route can be reached by the North West Passage. For example, the Stena Polaris tanker is currently sailing from port Ust-Luga (Leningrad region, Russia) to port Yeosu (S. Korea) via the Northern Sea Route. As for this voyage, the North West Passage is about 2,000 km longer. However, if the tanker set off from the Great Britain, the difference would be minor. Key factor here are ice conditions and cost icebreaker escort, regulatory control and safety.

    Fortunately, Russia is more prepared for the development of transit potential in the Arctic. Availability of nuclear icebreakers, ports along the NSR, rescue centers, legislation and considerable experience in northern shipping are obvious competitive advantages. Meanwhile, there is no point to “relax”– considerable share of icebreakers will be decommissioned in the nearest years while the Canadian side is determined to develop its project. The state support of the above voyage only confirms this.

    As for ice conditions, IAA PortNews obtained the comment of Genrikh Alekseyev, head of the department on air-sea interaction of the Arctic and Antarctic Reserch Institute. According to the forecasts, Arctic ice will start to disappear in September by 2050. The rest of the period, the ice will be thinner than now but this will entail other problems like snowing and sticking to vessels. For 6 moths ice will be hard and in the areas of Greenland and North West Passage they will be thicker as compared with the water area of the Northern Sea Route. In general, Arctic navigation will be still hard and risky and require icebreaker assistance and navigators’ competence, Genrikh Alekseyev says.

    Thus, we can expect that the density of shipping via Arctic routes will increase though they do not seem to fully substitute the Suez and Panama Canals. The Arctic routes are likely to struggle for transit with each other and the choice of ship owners will depend primarily on the cost of icebreaker escort.

    Vitaly Chernov

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