Iceland president sees Maine as intl. shipping hub
Olafur Grimsson, president of Iceland, said Maine could be a major international shipping hub for the United States as the polar ice caps continue to melt and create new trade routes across the top of the globe.
The Bangor Daily News reported Grimsson highlighted the opportunities presented by that sea change during a presentation Friday at Maine International Trade Day in South Portland.
Grimsson said Icelandic shipping company Eimskip's relocation of its North American headquarters to Portland earlier this year shows that the city's access to the Northeast Passage is already "an economic and commercial reality."
Grimsson said that shipping route cuts travel to Asia by 40%, over the current route through the Mediterranean Sea and Suez Canal.
Perry Newman, president of Atlantica Group LLC and a former president of MITC, told the paper that Maine might need infrastructure improvements to become the U.S. shipping hub that Grimsson portrayed.
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