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World's biggest shipping firm to test Russian Arctic route
Danish shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk said Thursday it will send a cargo vessel through the Russian Arctic for the first time as a result of melting sea ice.
[...] "I think it is important to underline that this is a one-off trial designed to explore an unknown route for container shipping and to collect scientific data—and not the launch of a new product," von Spalding said in an email to The Associated Press.
The Northern Sea Route could be a shorter route for journeys from East Asia to Europe than the Northwest Passage over Canada because it will likely be free of ice sooner due to climate change.
Experts say it could reduce the most commonly used East Asia-Europe route via the Suez Canal from 21,000 kilometers (13,000 miles) to 12,800 kilometers (8,000 miles), cutting transit time by 10-15 days.
Von Spalding said the ship will leave Russia's Pacific port city of Vladivostok around Sept. 1 with a cargo of frozen fish and sail to St. Petersburg where it will arrive by the end of the month.
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(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @11:14AM (5 children)
Nevermind fucking up the untouched arctic nature...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @01:07PM (2 children)
It's been frozen since the last ice age.
Nothing screw up. There's not even a fishery there.
However shaving that many miles off the trip saves an enormous amount of fuel which also reduces emissions and helps keep the overall environment healthier.
Hurray for Global Warming!
I can't wait until you can sit on a tropical beach in Alaska!
(Score: 2) by Subsentient on Friday August 24 2018, @01:18PM (1 child)
As someone from Arizona, where the summers routinely reach 120F, I'm... less thrilled.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @02:05PM
Do what the birds do, migrate north.
In truth though, Global Warming should turn Phoenix into a lake again.
Lagoons will get deserty, but the deserts should bloom
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday August 24 2018, @01:11PM
There is not much nature in the arctic. It's snow and ice and sea water and bare rock. Also, if there had been any nature to fuck up in the arctic, then the Soviet Union had surely done it before they were through. A container ship full of frozen fish or even plastic widgets from China could hardly do worse.
Running oil tankers through the Amazon basin, now, that would fuck up nature.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @01:33PM
C’mon, you know you’ll end up paying the same or more for all the plastic shit. It’s going to make it cheaper for the vendor, the shipper, and the manufacturer. Not for the end consumer. I think we’re all familiar enough with the MBA decisions that get made to know how this all goes by now.