Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Russia wants nations to take up its offer to smash channels through the Arctic with its nuclear icebreaker fleet, to reduce global shipping dependency on the Suez Canal.
Russia Suggests World Adopt Arctic Trade Route as Alternative to Suez Canal
GABRIELLE REYES 26 Mar 2021
Russia’s Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation suggested freight shippers should consider the Northern Sea Route as an “alternative” to Egypt’s Suez Canal on Thursday after a container ship blocked the canal and halted billions of dollars worth of trade this week.
The Japanese-owned, Panama-flagged MV Ever Given container ship became lodged in the Suez Canal on March 23 during a sandstorm. The vessel remained stuck in the canal as of March 26, despite attempts to dislodge the ship by a Dutch salvage firm. The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. More than ten percent of global maritime trade passes through the narrow waterway.
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“If you get icebound, we have icebreakers, well to break the ice,” Rosatom, which operates Russia’s nuclear-powered icebreaker program, wrote as its second reason.
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Read more: https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2021/03/26/russia-suggests-world-adopt-arctic-trade-route-as-alternative-to-suez-canal/
Tweet from the Russian nuclear agency Rosatom;
I suspect few shippers will accept Russia’s offer, at least in the near term. Even with the assistance of Russian icebreakers, ships would still have to be ice hardened to safely make the passage.
No response from Greenpeace on how they feel about smashing up the Arctic ice for profit.
Prof Chris(mas) Turkey will be organising a trip to discover the long lost Arctic penguins.
They can also load up on oil and refined fuel while they are up there since the big AGW fight is in your neighborhood instead of where the action is.
The NE passage was used all the time during the 1930’s and during WW2. The Arctic had much less ice. It wasn’t until the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s, NH cooling down period, that the NE passage could not be used regularly anymore.
In the 1960s the Russians were about to offer up the NSR for world shipping but the Suez crisis put paid to that. It wasn’t until the 1980s they offer was made formal.
Please excuse this diversion into a sideline of WWII history. In 1940 the German commerce raider Komet traversed across Siberia to enter the Pacific. I have some commentary.
German raider Komet passage north Siberia 1940
http://www.warwickhughes.com/blog/?p=5723
http://www.warwickhughes.com/agri16/raidertimeline4.jpg
“Tweet from the Russian nuclear agency Rosatom”
Tweet was removed.
Well, it gives an option, for a price and a dependability risk (for political reasons).
It is dependent on icebreakers.
Panama and Suez are expanding, part of Suez widened, part of Panama twinned.