German shipping major Hapag-Lloyd will not use the Arctic shipping passages which are now open as the sea ice in the Arctic is melting.
“Hapag-Lloyd does not use the Northwest Passage or the Northeast Passage as shipping routes right now, nor are there any plans to do so in the future,” Jörg Erdmann, Senior Director Sustainability at Hapag-Lloyd, pointed out.
With its stance on the possible route through the Arctic, the German carrier joins French container shipping company CMA CGM. In August, CMA CGM said that none of its 500 vessels would use the Northern Sea Route along Siberia as it would represent “a significant danger to the unique natural ecosystems”.