The impact of ice class on the economics of wet and dry bulk shipping in the Arctic waters

Feasibility of the Northern Sea Route: The role of distance, fuel prices, ice breaking fees and ship size for the product tanker market

“…The results of this study are based on up to date secondary data, and most importantly on primary data related to Arctic-specific cost factors which might change over time. The complexity of Arctic maritime operations and the relatively small ice class fleet globally (Solakivi et al, 2018;Tseng and Cullinane, 2018), increase the variability of estimates and underline the difficulty of obtaining reliable parameters (Lasserre, 2014). For example, the shipowner who provided the primary data for this paper, highlighted that the price for an iceclass vessel can be negotiable and sometimes not so higher than that of an ordinary vessel.…”

“…Whilst the literature on comparative studies of Arctic routes has increased considerably since 2011, so has the difficulty of identifying valid parameters regarding certain cost and operational factors (Lasserre, 2014(Lasserre, , 2015Meng et al, 2016;Theocharis et al, 2018). Minimal shipping activity on Arctic waters regarding full transits coupled with the complexity of Arctic maritime operations in harsh climate and sea ice, and the relatively small ice class fleet globally (Yumashev et al, 2017;Solakivi et al, 2017Solakivi et al, , 2018Tseng and Cullinane, 2018), increase the variability of estimates and underline the difficulty of obtaining a global view on Arctic shipping economics. Solakivi et al (2017Solakivi et al ( , 2018 recently attempted to address this gap by statistically analysing and determining increased costs of ice class containerships, and bulkers and tankers respectively.…”

“…The choice of LR3 size was made to facilitate the analysis of economies of scale, although currently clean petroleum product (CPP) trades involing such sizes are limited, but they could be used in dirty products or crude trades as well. The ice class 1A (Arc4) is chosen for the comparison between ice and non ice class ships, as this currently represents the majority of the global ice class fleet (Trafi, 2017b;Solakivi et al, 2018). Moreover, ships which transited the NSR from 2009 to 2018 were of 1A ice class in most of the cases (NSRA, 2016;CHNL, 2019).…”

“…Capital costs refer to average newbuilding prices between 2011 and 2018 5 , whilst operating costs to a daily average between 2014 and 2017. It is assumed that capital costs and installed power of the main engine for ice class 1A vessels are increased by 30.4% and 30.8% respectively (Solakivi et al, 2018). A shipowner conducting several product carrier voyages on the NSR provided the following premiums: maximum insurance premium at US$ 50,000, cost for books and charts at US$ 20,000 per voyage, daily crew costs are increased by 10%, and the rate for ice piloting at US$ 1,000 per day plus a fixed amount of US$ 5,000 for travel expenses (Tanker Company, 2019).…”

Transport Airships for Scheduled Supply and Emergency Response in the Arctic

“…The warming trend is expected to accelerate in coming years and extend the navigation of the North West Passage (NWP). Ocean shipping and tourist cruises through the NWP could rise significantly in the next 20 years [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]. More inter-ocean traffic and the development of natural resources increase the risk of marine accidents that require emergency response.…”