South Korean container ship begins pilot voyage via Arctic route

BUSAN, Aug. 22 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean container ship on Saturday set sail for Europe via the Arctic route, marking the first pilot operation of such a vessel along the route to test its commercial viability, the oceans ministry said.

The PanStar Acro departed from the southeastern port city of Busan at around 9 p.m. to enter the Northern Sea Route around Aug. 30 and pass through the Arctic waters around Sept. 7, according to the ministry.

The vessel is scheduled to make port calls at Felixstowe in Britain on Sept. 9, Rotterdam in the Netherlands on Sept. 11 and Gdansk in Poland on Sept. 15 before returning to Busan on Oct. 5.

The entire journey is expected to take about 45 days, and the sailing distance through the Arctic waters is estimated at 6,400 kilometers.

It marked the first time that a South Korean container ship has run a pilot operation along the Arctic route. It was also the first time since 2016 that a Korean vessel has made a voyage via the route.

The PanStar Acro is a 2,758 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) container ship with ice-class capabilities, operated by Busan-based PanStar Line. The ship carried 837 TEUs of cargo, including chemical products, used cars and auto parts as well as empty containers.

Arctic shipping routes are maritime passages through the Arctic Ocean that could potentially offer shorter and more efficient trade routes between Asia and Europe. The sea routes are expected to open up more as the ice in the region melts with global warming. The ongoing Middle East conflict has also disrupted global shipping, generating interest in the routes as an alternative.

The administration of President Lee Jae Myung relocated the oceans ministry to Busan, some 325 km southeast of Seoul, in a bid to develop it as Korea's maritime hub in anticipation of an expansion of the northern shipping routes.