Arctic Routing: from Rotterdam to Yokohama Or San Francisco Via the Arctic
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Arctic routing: From Rotterdam to Yokohama or San Francisco via the Arctic Version of 02-03-2016 Place, date: Rotterdam, 2015-2016 By: Yannick Moorman Enid Stoel Kevin Heemskerk Sebastiaan Mermans Principal: P.C. van Kluijven Organisation: Rotterdam Mainport University 1 Management review Arctic routes are becoming more and more popular for merchant voyages due to the melting of the ice cap as a consequence of global warming. Also new routes are getting available for merchant vessels. But most of these routes can only be used in summer, because the temperatures in winter can get as low as -40 degrees Celsius and the ice returns in that season. The future of the Arctic is unsure. It has been predicted that the icecap will continue to melt, but there are many who doubt this. The future of the area can be of great importance to those who benefit from shipping. The greatest advantages of travelling over the Arctic are the distance and time reduction, that lead to a significant cost reduction of a voyage, in comparison to using conventional routes that lead through the panama canal or Suez canal, mostly because less fuel is consumed. However, there are also challenges for cargo vessels in the Arctic. Sailing in ice is risky, even more bigger cargo vessels. The risk of maritime pollution caused by cargo vessels using Arctic routes can not be overlooked. Furthermore, the facilities for vessels in the Arctic area are often found to be insufficient. In this research the benefits, challenges and possible solutions to those challenges are looked at. The research partly consist of desk research, which involved studying existing information on the subject, and gathering new information by interviewing experts on the subject of Arctic routes as a field research. The research is structured into 4 sub questions, with multiple aspects underlying. There has been differentiated between existing and future Arctic routes, and between advantages and disadvantages of using these routes. This has been done to answer the main question: How can the costs of transportation by vessel be reduced by using Arctic routes? The objective was to reduce the costs of transportation by vessel by using Arctic routes, so that the port of Rotterdam will benefit from it. During the research, four main Arctic routes have been found to exist now or in the future. It has been concluded that the cost of transportation by vessel can be reduced by using Arctic routes, mainly due to distance and time reduction that causes a reduction in the cost of a voyage. However there are still challenges and risks of sailing through the Arctic to consider. Grounded on the findings in this research, it is recommended that more research be done into improving facilities, and into rules and regulations that could reduce the risks of the use of Arctic routes by cargo vessels. 2 Preface This research group consists of four group members: Enid Stoel, Sebastiaan Mermans and Kevin Heemskerk. We are studying to become Maritime Officers. This research is a part of our education in order to learn about doing research, and to learn about the subject chosen by the students. We chose the subject of our research on the first day of the new school year 2015-2016, out of a selection made by our teachers. The reason why we chose this subject was because it seemed the most interesting subject to all of us. The subject is our subject for project 2 and is made for the Symposium of 2016. Our supervisor is Mr Van Kluijven. There have been a few problems why the final report is delayed, but thanks to Mr Van Kluijven, we got back on track completely. To make it more easy to time to the project individually we made a division of tasks; Enid is the editor of the group and also had tasks of our desk research, while other members of the project group did their tasks of the desk research and sent them over to Enid. Rotterdam, 28 november 2015 Project Groep 1 3 Contents Management review ............................................................................................................................. 2 Preface .................................................................................................................................................. 3 Backgrounds......................................................................................................................................... 6 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 7 Problem description ......................................................................................................................... 7 Problem definition ........................................................................................................................... 7 Project Assignment .......................................................................................................................... 8 Overview of Arctic routes .................................................................................................................... 9 Existing arctic routes ..................................................................................................................... 10 Northern sea route .................................................................................................................... 10 Arctic bridge ............................................................................................................................. 11 Future arctic routes ........................................................................................................................ 12 North-west Passage................................................................................................................... 12 Central Arctic route .................................................................................................................. 13 Distance reduction.............................................................................................................................. 14 Existing arctic routes ..................................................................................................................... 14 Northern sea route .................................................................................................................... 14 Arctic bridge ............................................................................................................................. 14 Future arctic routes ........................................................................................................................ 15 North-West Passage .................................................................................................................. 15 Central Arctic route .................................................................................................................. 15 Potential cost Reduction..................................................................................................................... 16 Fuel and time reduction ................................................................................................................. 16 Other advantages of using the Arctic routes .................................................................................. 17 Piracy ........................................................................................................................................ 17 Less congestion on conventional routes ................................................................................... 18 Facilities in the Arctic ........................................................................................................................ 19 Regulations ............................................................................................................................... 19 Ice pilotage ............................................................................................................................... 19 Ports of refuge ............................................................................................................................... 20 Search and rescue .......................................................................................................................... 22 SAR point-based assets and oil spill response equipment. ....................................................... 23 Ice breakers ................................................................................................................................... 25 Sailing in convoy. ..................................................................................................................... 25 Designing of an icebreaker. ....................................................................................................... 26 Icebreaker cargo vessel ............................................................................................................. 27 Nuclear-powered icebreaker VS Diesel-powered icebreaker ......................................... 28 Challenges in the Arctic ..................................................................................................................... 30 Northern Sea route ........................................................................................................................ 30 North West Passage ......................................................................................................................