Shippers wishing to move cargo between east Asia and northwest Europe have a choice. It can either be shipped down through the Pacific Ocean, above Australia, across the Indian Ocean and up through the Suez Canal (see map). This route, known as the Suez Canal Route (SCR), is approximately 40% longer than the alternative - the Northern Sea Route (NSR), which involves sailing through the icy waters of the Arctic Ocean, and is only navigable for about a third of the year. The NSR has benefitted from the increase in trade between east Asia and northwest Europe and in 2012 saw the highest volume cargo it has seen in the past 10 years with 1.26M tonnes passing through.
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