Assessing the shipping in the Northern Sea Route: a qualitative approach

• Published in: Maritime Business Review
• Main Authors: Tseng, Po-Hsing, Pilcher, Nick
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Emerald 2017
• Subjects: Fuller; Northern Sea Route
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/mabr-06-2017-0013; https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/MABR-06-2017-0013/full/xml; https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/MABR-06-2017-0013/full/html

Purpose The Northern Sea Route (NSR) could become viable in the near future. If this happens, it will radically reduce sailing times and distances on routes from Asia to Northern Europe. However, although much has been written about the feasibility of the NSR, about the issues involved and about the possible opening of the route, the views of key stakeholders from companies who would potentially benefit from the route have been little explored. The purpose of this paper is to complement the existing literature on the feasibility of and issues related to the NSR by presenting and discussing the results from in-depth qualitative interviews with nine key stakeholders based in Shanghai and Taiwan who have extensive research, knowledge and practical experience of NSR. Design/methodology/approach Based on a grounded theory analysis, a total of nine key stakeholders knowledgeable about NSR and the majority with sailing experience of NSR are interviewed, including one government official, two professors, shipping experts in six liner and one bulk shipping companies. Findings The authors present interviewees’ thoughts regarding the feasibility of NSR at the current time in terms of practicalities, ships, costs, information and wider issues. Practical implications These thoughts show that whilst the potential of NSR is huge in theory, in practice the overall perception of it in terms of current feasibility from a company perspective is one of challenges and unknown issues. Shipping companies can benefit from the authors findings when considering the feasibility of NSR as a shipping route. Ultimately, the picture emerges that without one country, probably Russia, taking the lead on the route, it will remain only a theoretical one. Originality/value In-depth interviews with grounded theory are used to investigate current and actual thoughts on NSR. This paper highlights correlations and additions to show a fuller picture of current knowledge and adds views from Shanghai and Taiwan.