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The Northern Sea Route (NSR) (russian: Се́верный морско́й путь, ''Severnyy morskoy put'', shortened to Севморпуть, ''Sevmorput'') is a shipping route officially defined by Russian legislation as lying east of Novaya Zemlya and specifically running along the
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
n Arctic coast from the Kara Sea, along Siberia, to the Bering Strait. To be more precise, The Northern Sea Route crosses the seas of the Arctic Ocean ( Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, East Siberian Sea, and Chukchi Sea). Administratively, in the west the NSR is bounded by the western entrances to the Novaya Zemlya straits and by the meridian running north from Cape Zhelaniya, and in the east, in the Bering Strait, it is bounded by the parallel of 66 ° N and the meridian of 168 ° 58′37 ″ W. The entire route lies in Arctic waters and within Russia's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Parts are free of ice for only two months per year. The overall route on Russia's side of the Arctic between North Cape and the Bering Strait has been called the Northeast Passage, analogous to the
Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the ...
on the Canada side. The length of the Northern Sea Route from the Kara Gates to Provideniya Bay is about 5600 km. The distance from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok through the NSR is over 14 thousand km (for comparison, the same distance through the Suez Canal is over 23 thousand km). The Northern Sea Route serves the Arctic ports and major rivers of Siberia by importing fuel, equipment, food and exporting timber and minerals. The Suez or Panama Canal are the alternatives to the Northern Sea Route. However, if the distance from the port of Murmansk (Russia) to the port of Yokohama (Japan) through the Suez Canal is 12,840 nautical miles, the same itinerary along the Northern Sea Route equals only 5,770 nautical miles. While the Northeast Passage includes all the East Arctic seas and connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the Northern Sea Route does not include the Barents Sea, and it therefore does not reach the Atlantic. Melting Arctic ice caps are likely to increase traffic in and the commercial viability of the Northern Sea Route. One study, for instance, projects "remarkable shifts in trade flows between Asia and Europe, diversion of trade within Europe, heavy shipping traffic in the Arctic and a substantial drop in Suez traffic. Projected shifts in trade also imply substantial pressure on an already threatened Arctic ecosystem." However, a polar opinion also does exist. The Northern Sea route is considerably shorter than the existing sea routes from Asia to Europe, which makes it more ecological due to less consumption of CO2.Schøyen, H., & Bråthen, S. (2011) Archived
21 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine The Northern Sea Route versus the Suez Canal: cases from bulk shipping. Journal of Transport Geography, 19(4), 977–983
A usable Northern Sea Route between northern Europe and North Pacific ports would cut time at sea (and, accordingly, fuel consumption) by more than half. For the corporate players in bulk shipping of relatively low-value raw materials, cost savings for fuel may appear as a driver to explore the Northern Sea Route for commercial transits, and not necessarily reduced lead time. The Northern Sea Route allows economies of scale compared to coastal route alternatives, with vessel draught and beam limitation. Environmental demands faced by the maritime shipping industry may emerge as a driver for developing the Northern Sea Route. According to the Fourth IMO GHG Study 2020, sea cargo transportation is responsible for 2.9% of global emissions. More than that, in the next 20 years the trading maritime volume is expected to double, which may cause even worse consequences for the environment. Now marine transport produces about 1 gigaton of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per year and has been struggling for many years to reduce its environmental impact. For example, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has obliged sea carriers to reduce CO2 emissions by 50% by 2050. It may seem very realistic, but achieving this result may become a tough challenge. Firstly, marine transport generates 14% of all transport emissions, and, secondly, effective techniques that could replace marine engines powered by fossil fuels do not exist yet. Due to its shorter length, navigation on the NSR contributes to reducing the carbon footprint of maritime transport thus contributing to the achievement of the Paris Agreement goals.


History

The route was first conquered by Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld's expedition with a single wintering in 1878–79. The Northern Sea Route is one of several Arctic shipping routes. Since the mid-1930s the Northern Sea Route has been an officially managed and administered shipping route along the northern/Arctic coast of Russia. The administrative entity was sequentially updated, upgraded, and renamed. Its current incarnation was the Federal State Budgetary Institution's establishment of The Northern Sea Route Administration in 2013. Two-thirds of the Arctic seas remain ice-free in summer, that is why ships have more route options. In August 2017, the first ship traversed the Northern Sea Route without the use of icebreakers. According to the ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', this forebodes more shipping through the Arctic, as the sea ice melts and makes shipping easier. In 2018 Maersk Line sent the new "ice-class" container ship ''Venta Maersk'' through the route to gather data on operational feasibility, though they did not currently see it as commercially attractive. Escort assistance was required for three days from the Russian
nuclear-powered icebreaker A nuclear-powered icebreaker is an icebreaker with an onboard nuclear power plant that produces power for the vessel's propulsion system. , Russia is the only country that builds and operates nuclear-powered icebreakers, having built a number of ...
. The Dutch Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis projected in 2015 that the Northern Sea Route may be ice-free by 2030, earlier than the
Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the ...
or Transpolar Sea Route. A 2016 report by the Copenhagen Business School found that large-scale trans-Arctic shipping may become economically viable by 2040. As the Northern Sea Route is a strategically important transport artery, it can already be called economically profitable in comparison, for example, with the Suez Canal due to a number of reasons: *Fuel savings due to reduced distance; *The shorter distance reduces the cost of staff labor and chartering vessels; *The Northern Sea Route does not charge payments for the passage (unlike, for example, the Suez Canal); *There are no queues (unlike, for example, the Suez Canal); *There is no risk of a pirate attack. In 2018 the Russian government transferred the main responsibility for the Northern Sea Route to Rosatom which through its ROSATOMFLOT subsidiary manages the Russian nuclear powered icebreaker fleet based in Murmansk. Rosatom is a state corporation that organizes the navigation of vessels in the waters of the NSR in accordance with the Merchant Shipping Code, manages a fleet of powerful nuclear icebreakers, ensures the safety and uninterrupted operation of navigation, provides port services for gas tankers in case of unfavorable weather conditions. Rosatom also provides navigation and hydrographic support in the waters of the Northern Sea Route, develops the infrastructure of sea harbors, and manages the state property of these ports. For this purpose, the Directorate of the Northern Sea Route was formed, that now manages three subordinate organizations "Atomflot" (ROSATOMFLOT), "Hydrographic Enterprise" and "ChukotAtomEnergo". Recently, the "Main Directorate of the Northern Sea Route" ("
Glavsevmorput The Chief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route (russian: Главное Управление Северного Морского Пути , translit=Glavnoe upravlenie Severnogo morskogo puti), also known as Glavsevmorput or GUSMP (russian: ГУ� ...
") was established on the basis of the Naval Operations Headquarters of FSUE “Atomflot”. The main purpose of the creation of the
Glavsevmorput The Chief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route (russian: Главное Управление Северного Морского Пути , translit=Glavnoe upravlenie Severnogo morskogo puti), also known as Glavsevmorput or GUSMP (russian: ГУ� ...
is to organize the navigation of vessels in the waters of the Northern Sea Route.
Glavsevmorput The Chief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route (russian: Главное Управление Северного Морского Пути , translit=Glavnoe upravlenie Severnogo morskogo puti), also known as Glavsevmorput or GUSMP (russian: ГУ� ...
Federal State Budgetary Institution solves the following tasks: ensuring the organization of icebreaking vessels taking into account the hydrometeorological, ice, and navigation conditions in the waters of the NSR; vessels navigation in the waters of the NSR; issuance, suspension, renewal, and termination of permits for sailing vessels in the waters of the NSR. To solve these tasks, the department arranges icebreaker fleet vessels in the waters of the NSR, monitors the traffic in the NSR water area, provides information on hydrometeorological, ice, and navigation conditions, and processes information from vessels located in the NSR water area. Rosatom is a Legacy Member of the Arctic Economic Council, that’s why all the operations are aimed to establish economic well-being, environmental neutrality, and human capital development. Since 2008, the structure of Rosatom includes the Russian nuclear icebreaker fleet, which is the largest in the world with a container ship, four service vessels and seven nuclear-powered icebreakers (“ Yamal”, " 50 Let Pobedy", " Taymyr", "
Vaygach Vaygach Island (russian: Вайга́ч, ''Vajgač''; Nenets: Вай Хабць, romanized: ''Vai Habcj’'') an island in the Arctic Sea between the Pechora Sea and the Kara Sea. Vaygach Island is separated from the Yugorsky Peninsula in the ...
", " Arctic", " Siberia" and " Ural"). The last three are the latest universal icebreakers of the 22220 project, and the world's only transport vessel with the Sevmorput nuclear power plant in operation. As the development of the icebreaking fleet is the most important condition for constant navigation in Arctic waters, other two universal nuclear icebreakers of project 22220 are currently being built in St. Petersburg. They are Yakutiya (2024) and Chukotka (2026). These icebreakers will be universal, which means they will be able to change the draft from 10.5 to 8.1 meters, depending on the depth, which will allow them to work both at sea and in the mouths of Siberian rivers. They will be equipped with a power plant with two
RITM-200 The RITM-200 is an integrated generation 3+ pressurized water reactor developed by OKBM Afrikantov and designed to produce 55 MWe. The design is an improvement of KLT-40 reactor. It uses up to 20% enriched uranium-235 and can be refueled every 1 ...
reactors and will be capable of overcoming ice up to 3 meters thick. At the same time, the 5th and 6th icebreakers of the 22220 project are planned to be constructed as well as 4 non-nuclear icebreakers to serve shippers' investment projects. In addition, the Zvezda shipyard is working on the construction of the world's most powerful nuclear icebreaker project 10510 "Russia", scheduled to commissioning in 2027. It is also planned to build two more icebreakers of this prototype. These icebreakers will be equipped with a two-reactor power plant with RITM-400 reactors with a capacity of 315 MW. The maximum ice thickness overcome by these icebreakers will exceed 4 meters.


Economic assessment

Researchers and economists usually compare the Northern Sea Route with the conventional Suez Canal Route. The first route is shorter, which allow to save on fuel, but it is connected with environmental risks and increased operating costs. However, the above-mentioned research can be considered disputable and incomplete, as it does not consider such factors like the reduced length of the Northern Sea Route (comparing to the Suez Canal) and, therefore, reduced CO2 emissions; the absence of charge payments for the passage; no risks of a pirate attack and, accordingly, no need to insure the cargo; the reduced cost of journey due to its reduced length. Some studies recommend the joint usage of the two routes where the Northern Sea Route is used in summer when it is almost ice-free, and the Suez Canal Route is sailed in the rest of the year. The researchers also claim that the economic feasibility of the NSR largely depends on its weather conditions. Even though the Arctic ice is melting and Polar routes are being extensively studied, the amount of cargo shipped through the Northern Sea Route (NSR) remains low in comparison to the Suez Canal. Though, the cargo traffic is steadily growing every year. The research shows that the NSR-SCR combined shipping scheme can be more competitive than the use of the Suez Canal Route only. If the shipping company provides sufficient loading on the NSR, uses a reliable ice-class vessel for navigation and the price of crude oil is high, the economic advantage of the NSR-SCR combined shipping scheme is obvious. Ice thickness directly affects the shipping cost. Now, when the Arctic ice is slowly melting due to weather conditions, the cost of icebreaking service is expected to reduce. Also, vessels of some ice classes can sail on the NSR independently. That is why the NSR icebreaker escort fee may be several times lower than the SCR toll. State Corporation Rosatom assumes the possibility and functions of the NSR and ensures the safety of navigation on the high technological level. Besides organizing the navigation along the NSR and the icebreaking services with the world's only nuclear icebreaker fleet, Rosatom is planning to implement the Arctic Ice Regime Shipping System (AIRSS) methodology. This system will represent a digital space that will provide various services to cargo carriers, shipowners, captains, insurers, and other participants in the logistics market on the NSR. In particular, it involves issuing permits for the passage of vessels, monitoring, dispatching, and managing the work of the fleet. The single digital platform will collect information from all the available sources, for example, hydrometeorological data, the location of ships and icebreakers, port congestion. As a result, users will receive an advanced "ice navigator" that will allow to plot a precise route in view of the changing ice conditions of the NSR. In other words, the study of Sibul et al. proposed a path-finding algorithm for the NSR strategic assessment. It uses real weather as input and find the optimal shipping route.


Economic effects

Number of complete through transits per flag state. In 2021 a record number of transit voyages used the Northern Sea Route. 85 ships (among which only 12 voyages were made by vessels under the Russian flag) passed the NSR with around 2.75m tons of cargo.CHIL Information Offic
Transit Voyages on NSR in 2021: research
// Nord University. — 2021.


See also

* Arctic Bridge *
Arctic cooperation and politics Arctic cooperation and politics are partially coordinated via the Arctic Council, composed of the eight Arctic nations: the United States, Canada, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and Denmark with Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The domi ...
* Arctic policy of Russia * List of Russian explorers * Territorial claims in the Arctic


Notes


References

* *


Further reading

* * *Zeng et al. 2020.
The competitiveness of Arctic shipping over Suez Canal and China-Europe railway
" Transport Policy. *Wang et al. 2020.
Development situation and future demand for the ports along the Northern Sea Route.
Research in Transportation Business & Management *Ding et al. 2020.
Does a carbon tax affect the feasibility of Arctic shipping?
Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment


External links



(Russian Federation)
Northern Sea Route Information Office
(Nord University)
International Northern Sea Route Programme
* Russian State Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20160922223647/http://www.panoramio.com/user/3862907/tags/NE%20passage Pictures - during NE passagebr>Tanker Vladimir Tikhonov Completes Successful Northern Sea Route Transit in a Week
* Armstrong, Terence. ''The Northern Sea Route'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1952) * Belov, M. I. ''Istoriia otkrytiia i osveniia Severnogo Morskogo Puti'', 4 vols. (Leningrad, 1956–1969) * Horensma, Piers. ''The Soviet Arctic'' (London: Routledge, 1991) * McCannon, John. ''Red Arctic'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998)
Konyshev, Valery & Sergunin, Alexander: Is Russia a revisionist military power in the Arctic?
Defense & Security Analysis, September 2014.
Konyshev, Valery & Sergunin, Alexander. Russia in search of its Arctic strategy: between hard and soft power?
Polar Journal, April 2014. {{Authority control Arctic Ocean Chukchi Sea East Siberian Sea Geography of Russia Kara Sea Laptev Sea Navigation Polar exploration by Russia and the Soviet Union Sea lanes Transport in the Arctic Water transport in Russia Foreign trade of the Soviet Union Federal law enforcement agencies of Russia