Seoul, Moscow to hold talks on new arctic route

SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and Russia will hold maritime talks this week to discuss Seoul's development and use of new Arctic Ocean shipping routes that encompass Russia, officials here said Tuesday.
The talks will be held in Moscow for two days from Tuesday (Moscow time), according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.
"The meeting comes at a request from our government, which is working to develop new Arctic Ocean routes that will replace the pirate-ridden Indian Ocean routes and also help cut shipping costs," the ministry said in a press release.
Currently, it takes approximately 30 days to travel 20,100 kilometers from South Korea's southern port city of Busan to the Netherlands' Rotterdam via the India Ocean, according to the ministry.
A new Arctic Ocean route through Russia will cut the distance to 12,700 kilometers and travel time by up to 10 days, it said.
The ministry, however, noted the reduction of shipping costs will not be substantial, as the country will have to pay fees to use Russia's icebreakers or ice-class ships and also higher insurance fees.
Still, a new Arctic Ocean route will help significantly increase exchanges between South Korea and Russia while also offering a new, cost-effective way of transportation to reach markets in northern Europe, it said.
Seoul plans to begin preliminary runs on the Arctic Ocean route from as early as July 2012, following its maritime talks with Norway, which are scheduled for early next year.