  The reduction in sea ice cover with Arctic warming facilitates the transit of
ships through routes that are remarkably shorter than the traditional shipping
routes. Automatic Identification System (AIS), ideally designed to avoid vessel
collisions, transmits on vessel navigation information (currently 27 types of
messages) such as name, position or speed, is a powerful data source to monitor
the progress of Arctic shipping as the ice cover decreases. Based on the
analysis of an online platform collecting shipping AIS data, we quantified the
spatial distribution of shipping through the Arctic Ocean, its intensity and
the temporal evolution, in relation to the area released by the sea ice area.
Shipping through the Arctic Ocean is distributed spatially following a
heavy-tailed distribution, implying heavy traffic through a limited Arctic
area, with an exponent that depends on the vessel category. Fishing is the
category with the largest spatial spread, with the width of shipping routes
correlated with the proximal sea ice area. The time evolution of these routes
is characterized by increasing extended periods of shipping activity through
the year. AIS data offers valuable information on the activity of the
international fleet worldwide. In the context of the new international
agreements, it is a valuable source to monitor shipping, fishing and the
potential impact in marine life among other aspects. Here we have focused on
the Arctic shipping in recent years, which is rapidly growing, particularly
around the Northeastern and Northwest Passage coastal routes, providing an
opportunity for the design of shorter shipping routes and reduced greenhouse
gas emissions from transport of goods, but at a risk of impacts on the Arctic
ecosystem.
