A South Korean shipper plans to launch a pilot shipping service on a North Pole shipping route starting in August to bring shipments from Europe into the country, the maritime minister said Sunday.
In an interview with Yonhap News Agency, Maritime Minister Yoon Jin-sook said the ministry has consulted with ship owners and shippers about the transportation of energy and bulk cargo via a North Pole route.
"The government will provide shippers who participate in the pilot shipping service on a North Pole route with benefits like a reduction and exemption of port tariffs," she said.
When shippers travel to Europe via a North Pole route, they could reduce their travel time by 10 days compared to a shipping route linking Southeast Asian countries and the Suez Canal, the ministry said.
A new route over the North Pole is drawing attention as the melting of ice in the Arctic Ocean raises the feasibility of using it as a shipping route.
Experts said that the port of Busan in South Korea and other ports in the western part of Japan may emerge as new hubs of global maritime transportation if a shipping route across the North Pole opens.
There is a high possibility that Hong Kong and Singapore may lose their competitiveness in the global ocean transportation industry, they said.
Last year, the government planned to ship scrap iron into the country via a North Pole route but failed to do so due to soaring scrap iron prices in Europe and a drop in the ocean freight charge.
ksnam@yna.co.kr
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