China sees the Northwest Passage through Arctic as the future for Chinese flagged vessels.
Government officials made statements to the state-owned newspaper, the China Daily, promoting this as a route of the future.
“There will be ships with Chinese flags sailing through this route in the future,” Liu Pengfei, an administration spokesperson, was quoted as saying.
“Once this route is commonly used, it will directly change global maritime transportation and have a profound influence on international trade, the world economy, capital flows and resources exploitation,” they commented.
The remarks were made as China’s Maritime Safety Administration published a 356-page, Chinese language guide including nautical charts and descriptions of ice conditions for the Northwest Passage.
“Many countries have noticed the financial and strategic value of Arctic Ocean passages. China has also paid much attention,” Wu Yuxiao, one of the co-authors of the new guide, was quoted as saying.
The Northwest passage is not the only Arctic route to catch the attention of China. COSCO announced in 2015 that they intended to plans to launch regular services through the Arctic Ocean Northeast Passage to Europe which takes a route north of Russia.
Whilst no time frame is placed upon this new Arctic routing, this once impassable area is becoming ever more open through melting ice flows with the first unescorted cargo vessel going through the Northwest passage in 2014.
The route is significantly more direct than those taken currently.
Image: Courtesy of the Arctic Institute
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