In September this year a container ship for the first time completed a trip from China to Rotterdam through the Russian Arctic.
The captain docked in the Dutch port after a month of sailing and in the knowledge that his journey was around 5,000km shorter than if he had gone the traditional Suez Canal route.
The groundbreaking trip was yet another reminder that the Arctic region, due to melting ice, is slowly being opened up.
The effects of this can be seen geopolitically as...
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