Korean company launches shipping service on North Pole sea route

The Swedish icebreaker Stena Polaris set sail from the port of Ust-Luga on the Gulf of Finland in western Russia carrying Korean cargo for Hyundai Glovis.
The company is making use of a new Arctic Ocean route, becoming the first Korean shipper to send cargo through the North Pole.
The ship is carrying 4,000 tons of naphtha to Korea.
Using the Arctic route can cut the travel distance from Korea to northern European countries by 7-thousand kilometers and the duration of the journey by about 10 days compared to the time it takes using the conventional shipping route through the Indian Ocean and the Suez Canal.
"If we increase the number of operations using the North Pole route and expand our various Arctic development projects, we feel this could bring about a commercial breakthrough in the near future."
The nation's shipping business has high expectations for the new route, which could help reduce distribution costs.
"We pushed ahead with this new route to strengthen our global marine competitiveness and Korea's vitalization of North Pole business."
The Stena Polaris is scheduled to arrive back at Korea's Gwangyang Port in mid-October.
Source: Arirang News