History
Royal Arctic Line Ltd. was established in 1993, when a number of divisions in the Home Rule's trading company KNI, was put on shares. One of them became the container liner service called Royal Arctic Line. Based on more than 200 years of experience with sailing around Greenland. First as the Royal Trading Company. Then as KNI, and since 1993 as Royal Arctic Line.

Business base
Greenland's Self-Rule authority has awarded Royal Arctic Line the monopoly concession to sail regularly scheduled routes to, from and between the towns in Greenland and between Greenland and Reykjavik, Iceland, and Aalborg, Denmark, as well as a number of other overseas destinations. However, the concession follows a number of conditions about call-in frequencies, capacity and security of supply for all towns on both the east and west coasts.

The Self-Rule authority can also require Royal Arctic Line to enter into contracts on business-related terms for public service with transport of cargo and passengers, cf. Greenlandic Parliament Regulation No 5 of 6 June 1997.

Royal Arctic Line's freight rate is built on a uniform price system, so the price for sailing is the same for all towns. Royal Arctic Line is run on business-related terms, but freight rates are approved by the Self-Rule Government.