导读:全球变暖，冰层变薄，无须破冰直接可以航线，这会造成怎样的影响？

A commercial LNG tanker has sailed across the colder, northern route from Europe to Asia without the protection of an ice-breaker for the first time.

一艘商用液化天然气运输船在没有破冰船保护的情况下，穿越了从欧洲到亚洲的寒冷的北方航线。

The specially-built ship completed the crossing in just six-and-a-half days setting a new record, according to tanker’s Russian owners.

根据油轮俄罗斯船主的说法，这艘特别设计建造的船在仅仅6个半天内就完成了穿越，创下了新的记录。

The 300-metre-long Sovcomflot ship, the Christophe de Margerie, was carrying gas from Norway to South Korea.

这艘300米长的Sovcomflot船，名叫Christophe de Margerie，正在从挪威运送天然气到韩国。

Rising Arctic temperatures are boosting commercial shipping across this route.

不断上升的北极气温正在推动这条航线的商业运输。

The Christophe de Margerie is the world’s first and, at present, only ice-breaking LNG carrier.

克利斯朵夫是世界上第一个，也是目前唯一一个有破冰功能的液化天然气运输船。

On this trip it was able to keep up an average speed of 14 knots despite sailing through ice that was over one-metre-thick in places.

在这次旅行中，它能够保持14节的平均速度，尽管在一些地方有超过1米厚的冰。

On its maiden voyage earlier this year, the Christophe de Margerie docked in the Russian port of Sabetta. Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated the crew and energy company officials gathered on the ship’s bridge, saying: "This is a big event in the opening up of the Arctic."

在今年早些时候第一次航行时，克里斯托弗·德·马格里停靠在俄罗斯的萨贝尔港。俄罗斯总统普京对舰桥上的机组人员和能源公司官员表示祝贺，他说:“这对开发北极有重大意义。”

The Russian owners, Sovcomflot, will use this ice-breaking tanker to export gas from the Yamal peninsula to Asian markets later this year.

俄罗斯船主Sovcomflot将在今年晚些时候使用这艘破冰船从亚马尔半岛向亚洲市场出口天然气。

"Previously there was only a window of navigation from our summer to autumn, but this ship will be able to sail westwards from Sabetta which is the Yamal energy port, all year round and eastwards from July to December," said Sovcomflot spokesman Bill Spears.

Sovcomflot的发言人比尔·斯皮尔斯说:“以前，从我们的夏天到秋天只有一条路，但是这艘船将能够从亚马尔能源港口的萨波塔向西航行，从7月到12月一直向东航行。”

"Before the northern sea route was only open for four months and you had to have ice-breakers - so it’s a significant development."

“在北海航线开通只有4个月的时间，而且你必须有破冰船——所以这是一个重大的发展。”

In 2016, the northern sea route saw 19 full transits from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

2016年，从大西洋到太平洋的北海航线有19条。

High insurance and large fees for Russian ice-breakers are still discouraging some ship owners from the riskier northern route. But the economic benefits are attractive - the Christophe de Margerie took just 19 days for the entire voyage, around 30% faster than going by Suez.

高保险费和俄罗斯破冰船的高额费用仍使得一些船主远离风险较高的这条航线。但经济上的优势是有吸引力的——在整个航程中，克利斯朵夫只花了19天，比苏伊士运河要快30%左右。

There has been an overall decline in Arctic sea ice over the past 30 years, linked by scientists to rising global temperatures. This year, according to the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC), the annual maximum extent of Arctic sea ice hit a record low for the third year in a row.

在过去的30年里，北极海冰总体呈下降趋势，科学家们将其与全球变暖联系起来。根据美国国家冰雪数据中心的数据，今年北极海冰的年最大范围成了连续三年的新低。

This diminution of northern ice is something that the Russian ship owners believe will continue well into the future.

俄罗斯船主们相信，北极冰的减少将会一直持续。

"If there was a material change in the ice thickness it would change the period of the year that the ship could move through the Northern Sea Route," said Bill Spears from Sovcomflot.

来自Sovcomflot的比尔·斯皮尔斯说:“如果冰层厚度发生了实质性变化，那么它将改变这艘船穿越北海航线的时间。”

Environmental campaigners, though, are worried that increased traffic in this inhospitable region could have potentially significant effects.

不过，环保人士担心，在这个不适宜居住的地区增加交通可能会有潜在的影响。

"We’re concerned that this is a commercial opportunity that has only opened up because of global warming, and we’re especially concerned that having taken advantage of the thinning of the ice, shipping operations are now expanding in that part of the world," said John Maggs from Seas at Risk.

“我们担心，这会是一个商业机会，因为全球变暖，我们尤其担心的是，利用冰层变薄的优势，航运业务会在全球范围内扩张，”约翰·马格斯说。

"It is not like sailing in open water, even if you have an ice classed ship, the risks are dramatically increased."

“这并不像在开阔水域航行，即使你有了一艘破冰级的船，风险也大大增加。”

As well as the risk of accident or spillage, there are worries that some of the ships that will sail along this route will be powering their engines with heavier, dirtier marine fuels. The black carbon that they produce could be very damaging to snow and ice in the region, increasing the melting.

除了事故或泄漏的风险，还有人担心，一些将沿着这条航线航行的船只将会为他们的引擎提供更重、更脏的海洋燃料。它们产生的黑碳可能会对该地区的冰雪造成很大的破坏，增加了融化的速度。

"The environmental risks are enormous," said John Maggs.

“环境风险是巨大的，”约翰·麦格斯说。

"You are taking industrial-sized installations and moving them through a pristine Arctic environment, so it’s going to have an impact - and what are we getting in return, slightly shorter journey times? A 30% gain is not much of gain to me."

“应用一些工业规模的装置，穿过一个原始的北极环境，它必定产生影响——我们将会得到什么回报呢，稍微缩短了旅行时间?30%的收益对我来说没什么好处。"

（来源：爱语吧）