February 17 - The Arctic Institute has released a report entitled The Future of Arctic Shipping: A New Silk Road for China, which discusses the impact Arctic shipping routes will have on trade to and from Asia.
Written by Malte Humpert, the report explores the benefits of the North Sea Route and other Arctic passages on China's global shipping market, but concludes that although the Chinese shipping industry looks set to continue growing at a rapid rate, this will not be due to international trade growth via Arctic shipping routes.
Humpert suggests that shipping in the polar region may increase the number of supplies being delivered to the Arctic, and the amount of natural resources being transported to East Asia, but in the grand scheme of things, the Arctic routes will be unable to compete with the world's existing major trade lanes.
Read the full report here.
