The waters of the Arctic are becoming increasingly navigable due to the accelerated and relentless thawing, a result of the voracious greenhouse effect caused by gases emitted into the atmosphere. In just ten years, complete crossings have multiplied by 24. In 2024, a record was set with nearly 100 trips, and the majority were due to oil transportation.
Impact of maritime transport in the Arctic
62% of everything transported through these waters in nearly a hundred trips was oil. Another 28% consisted of coal carriers, fertilizers (also made from fossil fuels), and iron ore.
The disappearance of the ice cap caused by the constant increase in the planet’s temperature has driven maritime transport in the Arctic Ocean.
There, it has risen four times more than the global average. The last 18 years have been the eighteen worst records, meaning the years with the most ice melting. Something that, as scientists emphasize, indicates the advance of global warming.
According to data from the Northern Logistics Center at the University of Nord (Norway), complete crossings from one side of the ocean to the other have increased from four in 2010 to 97 in 2024.
According to satellite measurements, over 60% of the ice volume has been lost in just 30 years. Therefore, it has become a “marine highway” used for the extraction of natural resources.
The blue acceleration: dispute over natural resources
The accelerated thawing in the Arctic and the dispute over the extraction of natural resources are referred to as the “blue acceleration.” This race of interests among competitors seeks the exploitation of resources such as rare minerals, materials, and ocean space.
The concept refers to the exploitation of the area for oil drilling, illegal fishing, and mining at great depths.
“The increase in the extraction of natural resources is one of the reasons driving more and more ships to those latitudes,” warned the Marine Ecosystem Protection Manager of the Arctic Council, Hjalti Hreinsson.
The ice-free Arctic is a stage that combines all these elements. The main protagonists of extractive navigations are China and Russia. Thirty-four of these trips departed from Russian ports to the “Asian giant” in 2024, and 95% of the cargo was oil.
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