* Route cuts travel times between Atlantic and Pacific
oceans
* Maritime authorities release 356-page route guide in
Chinese
* Canada says it controls all waters in Northwest Passage
(Adds reaction from Canadian government)
BEIJING, April 20 (Reuters) - China will encourage ships
flying its flag to take the Northwest Passage via the Arctic
Ocean, a route opened up by global warming, to cut travel times
between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, a state-run newspaper
said on Wednesday.
China is increasingly active in the polar region, becoming
one of the biggest mining investors in Greenland and agreeing to
a free trade deal with Iceland.
Shorter shipping routes across the Arctic Ocean would save
Chinese companies time and money. For example, the journey from
Shanghai to Hamburg via the Arctic route is 2,800 nautical miles
shorter than going by the Suez Canal.
China's Maritime Safety Administration this month released a
guide offering detailed route guidance from the northern coast
of North America to the northern Pacific, the China Daily said.
"Once this route is commonly used, it will directly change
global maritime transport and have a profound influence on
international trade, the world economy, capital flow and
resource exploitation," ministry spokesman Liu Pengfei was
quoted as saying.
Chinese ships will sail through the Northwest Passage "in
the future", Liu added, without giving a time frame.
Most of the Northwest Passage lies in waters that Canada
claims as its own.
Asked if China considered the passage an international
waterway or Canadian waters, Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China noted Canada considered that
the route crosses its waters, although some countries believed
it was open to international navigation.
In Ottawa, a spokesman for Foreign Minister Stephane Dion
said no automatic right of transit passage existed in the
waterways of the Northwest Passage.
"We welcome navigation that complies with our rules and
regulations. Canada has an unfettered right to regulate internal
waters," Joseph Pickerill said by email.
Maritime experts say shipping companies would most likely be
deterred by the unpredictable nature of Arctic ice, the total
absence of infrastructure in the region, relatively shallow
waters, a lack of modern mapping and increased insurance costs.
The route would also be strategically important to China,
another maritime official, Wu Yuxiao, told the China Daily.
Melting sea ice has spurred more commercial traffic, and
China wants to become more active in the Arctic, where it says
it has important interests.
Chinese ships, even merchant vessels, using the Northwest
Passage could raise eyebrows in Washington.
In September, five Chinese Navy ships sailed in
international waters in the Bering Sea off Alaska, in an
apparent first for China's military.