Antarctic Sea Trading Route

The Antarctic Sea Trading Route (commomly abbreviated as SABER or ASTRO, formerly known as Sub-Antarctic Bypass Route) is one of two major trade routes in the Antarctic (the other one being the Itinerod Commerce Circuit). It is one of the largest shipping lanes in Antarctica, with several hundred ships traveling along it every day.

Background
After years of unorganized trading route, the South Pole Council have decided to build an organized trading route, mostly in the Sub-Antarctic area. The project was named Sub-Antarctic Bypass Route and was opened in 1998. During its opening, many traders and ships followed to route, easing trading and sea transportation at the Sub-Antarctic area. However, in 2011, the trading has been dangerously unorganized in the other side of the Antarctic seas mostly the area near Polaris, UnitedTerra and Eastshield. The South Pole Council then decided to extend the trading route to the east of Antarctica. It became a circular trading route after the extension is finished, and has decreased the risk of crashing.

Involvement/Description
The SABER transfers approximately 1.5 trillion fish worth of goods every year. While much slower than its counterpart, the Itinerod Commerce Circuit, it is used by many shipping companies for its sheer capacity.

Before the extension
The SABER begins in the seas north of Trans-Antarctica. Here, ports on the coast send cargo ships, loaded with freight and filled with  fuel, off into the ocean. East Pengolia often tries to compete with Trans-Antarctica by exporting their own goods and sending ships around the coast of West Pengolia, but they frequently run into skirmishes  with marine Pengolian troops under the command of Penghis Khan.

The SABER then runs eastward along the Sub-Antarctic Islands This is where most of the SABER is located, and many nations are situated along this route, including Dorkugal, MAI, Auzua Mostafique, and Ed Island.

Ships that have time to kill go "island-hopping" -- sailor jargon for jumping from island to island, trying to sell goods and buy as much fish as possible. Fish oil and other fish extracts are useful as a diesel fuel supplement, or even as reserve fuel. Fish is also used as reserve food. Island hopping also carries some danger, however, as often being in shallow waters has a risk of beaching.

Ships that are on a tight schedule try to travel as far away from the mainland as possible, where sea currents do not impede progress so much.

At the eastern extremes of the Sub-Antarctic Islands lies the Port of Club Penguin Island. This major port of call is the final stop on the central SABER, before it splits up into several branches. Club Penguin Island is fully stocked with jetpack fuel (a diesel fuel substitute), fish, and fish oil, and as it's the only stop for miles with an abundance of fuel, the island makes a lot of money selling this fuel to incoming ships. EBUL also sells their domestic goods at the Port, in hopes of exporting their goods to distributors and retailers across the nation.

Once ships leave CP, they can go on one of many different paths. The northern route brings ships to Emperorlands, Maps Island, Yow Kingdom, DRW and Snowiny. Heading northeast, ships arrive at the Ninja Archipelago and Waffleland. Ships heading east carry cargo to the Geek Empire, Freezeland, Southern Ocean City, and Calada. On the southern branch, ships can also hop along the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, or pass through Weddell Sea to pick up additional rarities, such as Turtle Shells and Rare Puffles. The southern branch also supplies the Ligurian enclave city of Frostize.

After the extension
The route is just the same with the exception that the route serves more countries, mostly in the eastern area of the Antarctic sea. The country served as the result of the extension are Asiapelago, UnitedTerra, East Pengolia, Free Republic of Guymed, Eastshield, Polaris SAD, Mystery Island, Bakunyumoria, Furshire and then going back to the original route.

Statistics
An average of 10,532 sailors sail on the ASTRO each year, and 2.5% of them are robbed by pirates. But 1% of those pirates are captured by the Antarctic Coast Guard.

Accidents

 * In 2003 a ship crashed into an iceberg and sank. The oil escaped and made a massive mess. The clean up took 4 months to finish.
 * In 2006 a cruise ship accidentally ended up on the ASTRO and was attacked by two pirate ships. The pirates stole everything from jewels to even clothing. Then they blew the cruise up.
 * In 2007 a fleet of pirates attacked some Antarctic Coast Guard ships, and stole their weapons. The weapons were later used to assault the dock at Club Penguin Island. Then they used the weapons to attack sailors, and they kept doing this till they ran out of ammunition.
 * In 2009 a cruise was going at full speed when it accidentally hit a smaller trading boat that no one spotted. It sunk very quickly, and 6,513 passengers died.
 * On March 3rd, 2014, a ship was nearby Snowiny and it exploded. Snowinians went searching to see what made the ship explode. More then a month later, on April 9th, 2014, it has been found out there was a bomb set up by possibly terrorists in the ship.

Trivia

 * Smaller nations use it to increase their exports.