JRL NEWSWATCH: “How viable is Arctic shipping? Russia is investing in the region” – The Economist
“Shipping lanes are under pressure. Seven of the world’s ten biggest shipping companies have suspended transit through the Red Sea, where the Houthis … are attacking commercial vessels [with the result that] …. far fewer ships are using the Suez Canal …. The volume of trade passing through the Panama Canal … has declined by 30% … after severe drought hit its reservoirs, lowering the water level. The spot rate for sending a 40-foot container from China to northern Europe [reportedly] has risen by 283% since early-December …. [A] series of [alternate] routes … could cut up to 40% off the length of journeys made via the Suez Canal[] [b]ut … the Northern Sea Route … North-West Passage … and Transpolar Sea Route … cross [the Arctic Ocean] …. The Arctic is warming four times faster than the global average. … [yet] will struggle to rival established shipping routes. Extreme seasonal weather limits its potential for commercial shipping. But as the ice cover shrinks, its waters will become busier — and Russia will make ever greater use of them.”