The New Arctic Route is in Hot Demand, and Singapore Media is Envious: Reminding China That It Is Neither Safe Nor Eco-Friendly!
In fact, when Chinese cargo ships began to appear frequently on the Arctic route, a peculiar division line emerged in the global shipping market.
Because, among the five major container shipping companies, Maersk Group, CMA CGM SA, and Hapag-Lloyd AG publicly reiterated that they follow the voluntary commitment made in 2019, and will not use the route extending over 3,000 nautical miles along the Russian Arctic coast.
They claim that an increase in shipping through the North Pole could "affect the region's fragile ecosystem and ice cover," and that "navigation and passage safety cannot be guaranteed." Why? It's all because of Russia.
These companies stick to the Suez Canal route, which has become the lifeline of global shipping, while the Arctic route is considered a high-risk, high-uncertainty alternative by them.
Only COSCO Shipping, ranked fourth in capacity, did not sign this commitment and quietly laid out its plans in this round of Arctic development. Why does China still insist on opening up the Arctic route? The answer lies in simple numbers.
From the Far East to Europe, the traditional Suez Canal route takes about 40 days, while the Northeast Passage of the Arctic only needs 15-18 days, reducing time by nearly a third.
For commerce, time is money. COSCO Shipping estimates that the Arctic route can save logistics costs for China's foreign trade enterprises by more than 30 billion yuan annually.
A fast Arctic route from Ningbo Zhoushan Port to Felixstowe Port in the UK directly reduces the carbon footprint of each standard container by 50%.
In the competition over the Arctic route, the most sensitive country is Singapore.
On the surface, Singapore emphasizes environmental protection and navigation safety, but the deeper concern points to the threat to its status as a shipping hub.
Singapore relies on the unique location of the Strait of Malacca to become a dual hub of global shipping and finance. Whether it's oil from the Middle East to East Asia or goods from East Asia to Europe, almost all pass through this channel.
If the Arctic route becomes operational on a large scale, European-Asian shipping may bypass the Strait of Malacca and directly reach Chinese northern ports or other East Asian ports via the Arctic.
This would mean not only a decrease in port revenue for Singapore, but also a weakening of its hub position in financial and insurance industries. Therefore, Singapore started to vigorously promote the negative aspects of the Arctic route, but this could not stop the temptation brought by cost reduction. The opening of the Arctic route is essentially a direct result of global climate change.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1845293256398860/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.