Arctic route trial vessel arrives in Busan after 50 days of voyage

(Busan = Yonhap News) Reporter Youngjae Lee = The Panstar Acro, the first Korean container ship to embark on a trial run on the Northern Sea Route, completed the voyage safely and returned to Busan on the 11th.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced that the Panstar Acro arrived at Busan Port this morning.

It has been 50 days since we departed from Busan on August 22nd.

The Northern Sea Route is a new shipping route created as the Arctic sea ice area is rapidly decreasing due to climate change, and is the shortest route connecting Asia and Europe. It is also attracting attention as an alternative route due to the war with Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

There is the Northeast Passage, which goes from Europe to the Pacific Ocean through northern Russia, and the Northwest Passage, which goes through northern North America to the Pacific Ocean, and the Panstar Acro sailed the Northeast Passage this time.

The Panstar Acro, which departed from Busan Port, entered the Arctic Ocean on August 31, passed through the Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Laptev Sea, Kara Sea, and Barents Sea, and called at Felixstowe, England, on the 12th of last month before entering its destination, Rotterdam, Netherlands, the next day.

Then, on the 18th of the same month, it stopped at the port of Gdansk, Poland, passed through the Arctic Ocean again, and returned safely to Busan.

Although it was six days later than the original scheduled arrival date in Busan on the 5th of this month, it is considered a successful operation, almost on schedule without any major accidents.

The Panstar Acro, a 2,758 TEU (1 TEU is one 20-foot container) class container ship, departed carrying 837 TEU and performed unloading and loading operations at the port of call.

Trial operations on the Arctic route by domestic ships have occurred in the past.

Beginning in 2013, when a Hyundai Glovis ship arrived at Gwangyang Port carrying naphtha from Ustruga Port in Russia, domestic ships also operated the Northern Sea Route in 2016.

However, this is the first time that a container ship, which is the core of shipping logistics, has sailed round the Northern Sea Route. This pilot operation is evaluated as confirming the possibility of the Northern Sea Route as a full-scale commercial route.

The government plans to comprehensively analyze data on the economic feasibility of the Northern Sea Route, including the Panstar Acro's pilot operation distance, route, time, cost, and fuel consumption.

Starting with this, the government's plan is to accumulate experience and data on the Northern Sea Route, open a regular service route in 2030, and realize economies of scale by 2035 by gradually enlarging container ships.

With the success of this pilot operation, the revitalization of the Northern Sea Route, which the government has been promoting as a national task, is expected to gain further momentum.

Revitalizing the Northern Sea Route is also in line with the government's goal of creating a southern maritime metropolitan area centered on Busan.

The plan is to use Busan, located at the corner of the Northern Sea Route, as a new growth engine to develop an economic area comparable to the metropolitan area.

The relocation of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries to Busan at the end of last year, the first year of the current government's inauguration, was the first step toward this end.

The government plans to hold an event at Busan Port on the 13th to welcome the return of the Panstar Acro.