Following the recent Suez Canal blockage situation, Aker Arctic has developed a new concept for the Northern Sea Route, an icebreaking Arctic container ship, which can be used year-round to cover the much shorter distance between Asia and Europe.
In fact, Aker Arctic has designed an 8000 TEU container ship for independent use in both summer and winter along the Northern Sea Route (NSR).
As explained, double-acting ship can manage independently on the NSR yearround by turning stern-first in heavy ice, whereas the shaftline version will need the assistance of an icebreaker during extreme winter conditions, as it has lower icebreaking capabilities.
In other words, the containership design with hybrid propulsion can also manage on its own without icebreaker assistance, which further lowers the cost. The smaller size, 8000 TEU, is additionally more flexible in terms of cargo compared to open water container ships.
In the latest issue of our #ArcticPassion News, we presented our 8,000 TEU Arctic container ship concept designed for year-round service on the #NorthernSeaRoute.
That was on Monday.
On Tuesday morning, a large container ship blocked the Suez Canal…https://t.co/G6lD02DRkS pic.twitter.com/bgMd3N3Ha4
— Aker Arctic (@AkerArctic) March 26, 2021
No such type of container ship has been available before.
…says Luigi Portunato, Naval Architect at Aker Arctic.
In the economic study, prior to beginning the vessel design, three possible options were explored and compared in terms of profitability:
- A normal open water vessel using the Suez Canal; the only route currently available for container shipping.
- A new Arctic container vessel for shipments between Asian and European ports.
- A new Arctic containership used only on the icy parts of the NSR, with two new reloading hubs at either end for further transportation of containers, one in Murmansk and another in Kamchatka.
The results showed the obvious: the unit cost per TEU decreases when the size of the vessel increases for all options.
According to Aker Arctic, although the drop was more significant for the Arctic alternatives, it is, however, difficult to establish the exact point when either of the two Northern Sea Route options becomes more profitable than the Suez Canal route, as there are many factors influencing the costs, such as fuel price, type of fuel and filling ratio of the container ship.
In the current market situation, transportation with the independent Arctic container ship is slightly more costly than with a Suez Canal open water vessel. Yet, using LNG as fuel would be more profitable, and is additionally available in the area.
…Portunato says.
For the record, the most similar vessel in terms of size is the Arc7 LNG carrier design used for the Christophe de Margerie and its sister ships. The Arctic container ship will also incorporate design ideas and solutions from the soon to be built, advanced Arctic LNG 2 concept.
