Results show that part-year arctic transit may be economically attractive for container traffic from North Asia between 2030 and 2050. With a projected Arctic trade potential of 1.4million TEU in 2030, this amounts to a total of about 480 transit voyages across the Arctic in the summer of 2030.

For 2050, the Arctic trade potential rises to 2.5million TEU and the total number of Arctic transit passages (one-way) in the summer of 2050 is projected to be about 850.

Due to shorter travel time and the need for a smaller fleet to carry the same amount of cargo between Asia and Europe by going across the Arctic compared with the route via the Suez Canal, CO2 emissions are reduced by 1.2Mt annually in 2030 and by 2.9 Mt annually in 2050.