The PANSTAR ACRO has returned to port after completing a trial voyage on the Northern Sea Route, the first such operation by a Korean container vessel. The government plans to continue accumulating operational data on the Northern Sea Route and expand logistics routes.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on the 13th that it would hold a welcome event as the PANSTAR ACRO returned to Busan Port after completing its round-trip trial voyage on the Northern Sea Route. This is the first time a Korean shipping company’s container vessel has used the Northern Sea Route to make a round trip between Korea and Europe.

The PANSTAR ACRO departed Busan New Port at around 9 p.m. on August 22 and reached Felixstowe in the United Kingdom via the Northeast Passage in 20 days and 5 hours. It then successively called at Rotterdam in the Netherlands and Gdansk in Poland before returning to Busan Port on the 11th of this month via the Northeast Passage. The ministry stated, “It is significant that a vessel carrying actual export container cargo verified the technological, environmental, and commercial feasibility of the Northern Sea Route and established a new option for maritime logistics networks.”

Based on the experience and data obtained from this voyage, the ministry plans to prepare for follow-up trial voyages and commercial operations and to continue promoting the Northern Sea Route as a long-term national project. Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Hwang Jong-woo said, “We will build on this achievement in subsequent voyages and steadily prepare so that the Northern Sea Route can become a new opportunity for our economy.”

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