Yong Sheng makes its way across Arctic

Much is being made of the voyage of the Yong Sheng, a Chinese cargo ship slowly making its way across the top of Russia and Europe toward its eventual destination, the Dutch port of Rotterdam,according toAlaska Dispatch latest reports.

If the ship successfully reaches port, it will become the first commercial Chinese ship to transit the Northern Sea Route, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by way of the Bering Strait and Russia’s northern coast.

But the Yong Sheng may just be riding a wave of hype. While the journey is certainly a first in a very distinct way, it’s also just another vessel using the route, which has seen an immense increase in traffic in recent years.

Some are using it as an indicator of things to come, pointing to the Yong Sheng voyage as an example of ways in which an increasingly “ice-free” Arctic might be exploited.

There are still some implications for the Yong Sheng’s voyage across the NSR, particularly for Alaska, though. Among the issues raised by the Yong Sheng:

The forgotten Northwest Passage

In using the NSR, the Yong Sheng shaves nearly two weeks and 2,400 nautical miles off the traditional China-Europe route through the Suez Canal in Egypt. With such a direct route, there is little incentive for Asian markets — or even those on the U.S. West Coast — to use the Northwest Passage, the other primary Arctic waterway connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific. The Northwest passage runs over the top of Alaska and Canada and through the tricky waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

The Bering Strait as choke point

If Alaska and the U.S. hope to cash in on the increase in Arctic shipping through the NSR, perhaps the best way to do it is via construction of a deepwater port along the Bering Strait.

A deepwater port could benefit the U.S. in a number of ways — a National Strategy document acknowledges that improved infrastructure in or near the Arctic could advance U.S. security interests and bolster commercial endeavors in the area.

The myth of the ‘ice-free’ Arctic

Despite a steady stream of gloomy news about the continued decline of sea ice in the Arctic, the NSR’s role as a “seasonal supplement” is one that’s likely to continue for a long time.

Though sea ice fell to all-time record low levels in 2012, with ice melting away from the world’s northerly coastlines and allowing a slightly-longer shipping window for vessels hoping to utilize the NSR or Northwest Passage, the fact remains that the Arctic is largely icebound for about nine months out of each year.

And for vessels hoping to utilize the Northern Sea Route, they face some of the most continuously stubborn ice, even in years when ice decline has been lower than historical averages. The National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo. has noted that the Chukchi Sea, off Alaska’s northwest coast, and the East Siberian Sea over Russia have both seen ice linger this year.

Learn more information in the AlaskaDispatch article

By Ben Anderson

Learn more about Northern Sea Route voyages in the Safety4Sea articles