Maine could become a ‘gateway’ to trade with Arctic nations, with climate change opening new trade routes.
A story in Tuesday’s Christian Science Monitor says Eimskip, the Icelandic shipping concern, has seen trade activity at Portland grow by 20% a year since 2013, when it established its U.S. base of operations at the Port of Portland.
Other companies also stand to benefit, the story says, not just by trading with Iceland and northern Europe, but also by trading with import-dependent ports in Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
“The North Atlantic is just full of really interesting market opportunities,” says Patrick Arnold, president of SoliDG Inc., the company that operates Portland’s International Marine Terminal. “You can go through the history of Maine and watch as certain industries depart,” he told the Monitor. “This connection with the High North is really a new lease on life for Maine.”
