Korea tests Arctic route with first trial voyage in decade

South Korea has launched its first government-backed container ship voyage through the Arctic in a decade, testing whether a route 35 percent shorter than the Suez Canal passage can become commercially viable despite high operating costs, limited cargo and geopolitical risks. The PanStar Acro departed Busan New Port on Aug. 22 carrying 737 twenty-foot-equivalent units of cargo. It will travel through the Northern Sea Route and call at Felixstowe in Britain, Rotterdam in the Netherlands and Gdans