A domestic container vessel (shown) on Aug. 22 began a pilot voyage to Europe via an Arctic route. (Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries)

By Aisylu Akhmetzianova

A domestic container vessel has started a trial voyage to Europe on an Arctic route.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries on Aug. 22 said it launched the country's first trial voyage of a container ship along the Northern Sea Route as part of a national policy task of securing new trade routes by pioneering Arctic shipping lanes.

This is the first time in 10 years for a domestic vessel to use this route and the first in history for a container ship to go on a voyage of this type.

The PanStar Acro, a 2,758-TEU-class container ship operated by Panstar Line, is carrying on this trial run 837 TEUs of cargo -- 737 of goods including chemical products, used cars and auto parts and 100 empty containers.

After departing from Busan Port, the vessel will navigate the route and stop at Felixstowe, the U.K. on Sept. 9; Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on Sept. 11; and Gdansk, Poland, on Sept. 15. It will return to Busan on Oct. 5 through the same path.

The voyage covers approximately 6,400 km in the Arctic Ocean over an estimated 45 days.

The ministry will analyze factors such as travel distance and time, fuel consumption and operating costs on this trial voyage to identify policy tasks to stimulate Arctic routes.

aisylu@korea.kr