Approaches of the profitability of Arctic shipping in the literature 1

• Main Author: Theocharis, Dimitrios
• Other Authors: Lasserre, Frederic, Faury, Olivier
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 2019
• Subjects: Arctic; Northern Sea Route
• Online Access: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/150624/; https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/150624/3/Theocaris%20chapter%20simul%20shipping%20comm%20FL%20%282%29.pdf

A significant share also analyze costs based on a single transit, which is consistent with the ad hoc service that is taking shape along the Northern Sea Route, but that does not picture adequately a possible regular service that could be set up during a whole shipping season for instance, and that would imply a loop service. The Arctic area is not considered profitable for container shipping during the winter time, thus the model works with a six-month sailing season. The different starting point thus accounts for a competitive advantage for the Arctic route in this scenario: a shorter route that enables the ship to make more rotations and a better fuel consumption per trip. The literature readily underlines that Arctic routes, being shorter, could imply a significant cost advantage because of a reduced fuel consumption, stemming both from a shorter distance and from a reduced speed.