Kick-off on composition of strategy council meeting for Gangwon Province’s North Pole Route

Gangwon Province’s East Sea Rim Headquarters revealed that it plans to prepare for the era of the North Pole Route referred to as “The Boat way of Dreams” led by Gangwon Province’s Donghae Port based on the possibility that after the year 2020, global warming will result in more than 100 days of commercial sailing in a year.

The Arctic Ocean is rapidly rising as a new land of opportunities with 47 billion barrels of natural gas, which is 30% of the worldwide reserves, 90 billion barrels of petroleum, which is 13% of the worldwide reserves, and with over 20 trillion dollars of underground resources.

Thus, for the government to prepare for the commercial sailing of the North Pole Route, the Minister of Oceans and Fisheries announced a trial sailing plan to the North Pole Route in August this year. Also, Russian icebreaker ships have been secured in order to pioneer the North Pole, and in line with such, plans have been made by Gangwon Province so that the Donghae Port could act a pivotal role in pioneering the North Pole Route. On June 20, it was announced that a foothold would be prepared to comprise and operate “(Tentative name) North Pole Route Gangwon Port Council meeting” and the actual activities would commence simultaneously with the hosting of its Establishment Congress in the beginning of July.

First of all, Gangwon Province’s Donghae Port is planning to utilize its geographically beneficial location and freight transportation conditions as counter strategies to walk with measured steps for the era of the North Pole Route.

Gangwon Province shortens the 140-km inland transportation distance when compared to Busan from the accessibility perspective, giving it an upper hand, and compared to Busan and Ulsan Port, it is located on a strategic location as it can access the North Pole Route faster.

In case of transporting goods from Busan Port to Rotterdam Port in Netherlands via North Pole Route, it can shorten the sailing distance by 7,400 km (20100→12,700㎞) when compared to the existing Indian Ocean Route, and shortens approximately 10 days of sailing. However, when the Donghae Port is used, the number of sailing days can be shortened by 2 days and the logistics costs can also be shortened, making it the one with the best geographical benefit.

Furthermore, extensive investments on the metropolitan transportation network facilities centered on the railways are expected to take place due to the successful attraction of the Winter Olympics and East Coast Free Economic Zone appointment, and through ties between the ports and the transportation network, the high possibility for development as North East Asia’s transportation･logistics are planned to be utilized as a strategy for the attraction.

However, according to an official, North Pole tour packages would be actively developed and plans are being made to stand tall as the nation’s biggest North Pole Tourism Port.