New Maritime Trade Routes in the Arctic Region: one of the Strongest Alternative to the Suez Canal

• Published in: International Journal of Environment and Geoinformatics
• Main Authors: BAYIRHAN, İrşad, GAZİOĞLU, Cem
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cem GAZİOĞLU 2021
• Subjects: Arctic Routes,Maritime Trade,NSR,SCR; Arctic; Climate change; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/ijegeo/issue/61200/911179; https://doi.org/10.30897/ijegeo.911179

There have been some alternative consequences of global climate change in terms of sea routes. The loss of sea ice in the Arctic has opened up new possibilities for more economical and energy efficient transport. This region has the potential to significantly reduce the distance between the three industrialized areas in the, North America, Europe and East Asia. The fact that the Arctic routes, which are currently facing some obstacles due to environmental and political reasons, will allow regular passage in the future, may be accelerated not only by climate change but also due to heavy traffic on the current Suez Canal Route (SCR). The Suez Canal is one of the most important waterways in the world, providing sea transportation between Asia-Europe-America without the need to travel through Africa. However, over time, the credibility of the Canal in terms of meeting the global supply chain has started to be questioned and alternative solutions have started to be sought. In this study, the importance of Arctic routes, which is a new and alternative route in maritime trade, is emphasized and the preference it will create against SCR is emphasized.