The container line has no intentions of sailing through the Arctic, where navigation is dangerous and puts pressure on the environment, according to CEO Søren Toft.
Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the world’s largest container carrier, denies having plans to operate via the Arctic region.
In a post on LinkedIn, the company’s chief executive, Søren Toft, writes that MSC does not wish to use the passage north of Russia known as the Northern Sea Route.
“Our position at MSC is clear. We do not and will not use the Northern Sea Route,” Toft writes in the post, referring to the intensified debate on the Arctic.
He justifies MSC’s rejection of Arctic shipping on the grounds of uncertainty and environmental concerns.
”Safe navigation cannot be assured. The risks for crews remain too high. And increased traffic would put additional pressure on fragile ecosystems and local communities,“ writes Toft.
In addition, according to Søren Toft, MSC does not need to sail through the Arctic.
”Our fleet and network allow us to transport our customers’ cargo safely and reliably around the world without doing so,” he writes.
Russia and China in particular are eager to sail via the Northern Sea Route. The possibility of using the passage remains limited, but as climate change causes the ice to melt, sailing via the Arctic is becoming more accessible to merchant ships.
Source: SHIPPINGWATCH