Square Now Arctic Route, Proven by Data
—Samsung SDS and Willog Launching IoT Cargo Monitoring in Korea’s First Pilot Voyage

A new Arctic shipping route is opening up, linking Asia and Europe. As climate change reduces Arctic sea ice coverage, the commercial viability of this route is growing. Compared to the existing route via the Suez Canal, it can cut the sailing distance from Busan to Europe by up to 30–35% and reduce voyage time by more than 10 days, drawing attention as a key pillar of future maritime logistics that can simultaneously cut logistics costs and stabilize the global supply chain.

In line with this, the Korean government promulgated a special act in June to promote the use of the Arctic sea route and foster related industries, which is set to take effect this coming December. Amid this policy momentum, on August 22, the container ship "PanStar Acro," operated by the first Korean shipping company, departed from Busan New Port and set out on a pilot voyage along the Arctic sea route. This marks the first time in 10 years since 2016, that a Korean vessel has sailed the Arctic route, and the first-ever case of a container ship in Korea. The PanStar Acro will pass through the Bering Strait and the Arctic Ocean, calling in sequence at Felixstowe in the UK, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and Gdansk in Poland, before returning to Busan in early October — a round-trip voyage of about 45 days.

Samsung SDS Partnering with Willog to Secure Real Cargo Condition Data

Samsung SDS Cello Square views this pilot voyage as an opportunity to prove the practical safety and reliability of the Arctic sea route by leveraging data, to domestic cargo owners. To this end, Samsung SDS is running a cargo condition measurement project jointly with Willog, a company specializing in IoT cargo monitoring.

Willog provides solutions that precisely monitor cargo conditions based on IoT sensor devices that detect temperature, humidity, shock, and location in real time, and the company holds a range of real-world references in cold-chain logistics and the transport of high-value, sensitive cargo.

In this project, actual customer cargo of Cello Square was loaded onto the PanStar Acro, with IoT sensors attached to collect real-time temperature, humidity, and shock data across the entire route — from Busan through the Bering Strait and the Arctic Ocean to Europe. By combining Willog's precision sensor devices with the data-driven logistics operation capabilities that Samsung SDS Cello Square has built up, the project closely measures and analyzes, for each transport leg, factors such as temperature fluctuations and condensation inside containers in extremely cold zones, as well as shock events caused by wave heights in the Arctic Ocean. The main goal of this monitoring is to verify with data exactly how the Arctic sea route affects cargo.

The Willog IoT sensor device actually attached inside the Fanstar Acro container.
This device, smaller than a palm, records temperature, humidity, and shock in real time along the entire Arctic route for 45 days.

This goes beyond simply shortening the transit lead time. For shippers handling cargo sensitive to changes in external environments such as temperature, humidity, and shock, it is crucial to be able to objectively prove what environments the cargo has actually passed through with data. The actual measurement data this time not only provides a basis for identifying in advance the risks of quality damage that may occur during transportation and optimizing packaging and storage conditions, but also serves as objective evidence to clarify responsibility in the event of a claim, and can be used for insurance negotiations or ESG reporting materials, thereby providing shippers with practical risk management tools.

After the transit ends, a follow-up report based on actual measurement data will be issued

The PanStar Acro will return to Busan Port in early October, and Samsung SDS and Willog plan to thoroughly analyze temperature, humidity, and shock data collected throughout the voyage to issue a follow-up report. The report will include changes in cargo conditions by leg, comparisons with existing route transportation data, and suitability analysis by cargo type, and is expected to serve as practical material for shippers considering the Arctic route.

A Samsung SDS official commented on the significance of this collaboration as follows.

"This pilot voyage is the first step in answering, with data, not just 'Is the Arctic route open?' but also 'Is the Arctic route safe for our cargo?' The measurement data secured through collaboration with Willog will provide shippers considering the Arctic route in the future with a practical basis for decision-making."

Future Plans

Samsung SDS Cello Square, starting with this Arctic route pilot voyage monitoring, plans to continuously expand data-driven logistics reliability verification for various cargo groups sensitive to temperature and humidity. As subsequent reports are published, detailed information will be shared through Cello Square News, and we kindly ask for your continued interest and anticipation.

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