2024
Ice class cargo ship shortage
According to the plenipotentiary representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Far Eastern Federal District, Russia is experiencing a shortage of ice-class cargo ships for the giant project of the Northern Sea Route, since the country cannot yet build this fleet entirely on its own.
Russian shipyards are capable of building only 16 Arctic cargo ships out of at least 70 required by 2030.
Cargo traffic along the Northern Sea Route for October 2024 is half of the original target for 2024.
175 billion rubles for 2025-2027 are allocated for the new federal project for the development of the Northern Sea Route
The Russian government plans to allocate ₽175,45 billion for the implementation of the federal project "Development of the Great Northern Sea Route" (BSMP) in the period from 2025 to 2027. Information on the distribution of funds became known on September 30, 2024 from the explanatory note to the bill on the federal budget for the upcoming three-year period.
According to Portnews, the distribution of funds is supposed to be carried out as follows: in 2025 - ₽55,28 billion, in 2026 - ₽63,69 billion and in 2027 - ₽56,48 billion. This information is contained in an explanatory note to the bill on the federal budget for 2025 and the planning period 2026-2027.
A significant part of the allocated funds will be used to develop the infrastructure of seaports along the Northern Sea Route. More than ₽19 billion are planned to be allocated for these purposes in 2026-2027. In addition, ₽3,6 billion is provided for state support for navigation and hydrographic support of navigation on the NSR routes for three years, and ₽1,28 billion - for the organization of regular transportation.
The implementation of measures to develop the port infrastructure of the NSR and the reconstruction of the sea canal will require ₽17,43 billion over a three-year period. It is planned to allocate ₽2,2 billion in 2025, ₽2,64 billion in 2026 and ₽5,38 billion in 2027 for the construction of an atomic technology service vessel.
The project also provides funding for the construction of the fifth and sixth production nuclear icebreakers of project 22220 in the amount of ₽31,3 billion for the period 2025-2027.
The concept of the Great Northern Sea Route was presented by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in the summer of 2024. The new route from Kaliningrad to Sakhalin will cover about 8 thousand nautical miles, which is almost three times the length of the traditional Northern Sea Route. The expanded route is planned to include the ports of Arkhangelsk, St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad, which are located outside the NSR.[1]
Novatek began deliveries of LNG along the Northern Sea Route
Novatek began transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) along the Northern Sea Route. The first batch of LNG was shipped from the port of Sabetta on June 21, 2024. The Arc7 tanker Eduard Toll with an LNG cargo is sent to China under the escort of the Siberia icebreaker. Read more here
Atomflot has developed an AI system for controlling ships of the Northern Sea Route
At the end of March 2024, it became known about the creation of an AI system for controlling ships of the Northern Sea Route. The implementation of this project is carried out by the FSUE Atomflot controlled by Rosatom. Read more here.
2023
Record growth in transit traffic along the Northern Sea Route - up to 2.15 million tons
The volume of transit traffic along the Northern Sea Route (NSR) at the end of 2023 amounted to 2.15 million tons, which has never happened. Alexey Likhachev, General Director of Rosatom, spoke about this record in February 2024.
According to him, the total volume of transported goods on the NSR in 2023 also reached record values - 36.25 million tons, which exceeded the planned indicators by 250 thousand tons.
In addition, the head of Rosatom cited statistics according to which the number of swimming permits in the NSR issued to foreign companies more than doubled in 2023.
Earlier, Rosatom reported that in 2023 the main cargo when using the NSR was oil: it was transported 1.5 million tons. About 350 thousand tons fell on iron ore concentrate, also Gazprom"" sent one ship with liquefied natural gas in the amount of 70 thousand tons, and ELSI Mining also sent one ship with 70 thousand tons.
In 2023, 80 flights passed through the NSR (in 2022 - 47). The large ice-free ships that passed the Northern Sea Route in August and October were double-wired: the Gingo bulker and the Platos bulker from the port of Murmansk passed through the NSR to the Chinese ports of Qingdao and Dalian. In addition, according to Rosatom, in 2023, three regular coaster flights were completed along the Northern Sea Route from the northwestern part of Russia to the regions of the Far East and in the opposite direction.
The Northern Sea Route is the shortest sea route from Europe to Asia. The plenipotentiary representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Far Eastern Federal District, Yuri Trutnev, expects that the volume of traffic along the Northern Sea Route in 2024 is planned at the level of 50 million tons. Trutnev believes that the Northern Sea Route will create additional jobs in the Far East and connect the regions of Russia. He noted that a large number of ships and escorts are needed for the NSR to work.[2]
Softline Arctic and SAFU will join forces in digitalizing the Northern Sea Route
Softline Group of Companies (PJSC Softline) on December 11, 2023 announced the start of cooperation between Softline Arctic LLC and the Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov (SAFU). The parties plan to create a joint working group for the development and implementation of projects within the framework of the digitalization of the Northern Sea Route. Read more here.
In Russia, created drones for marking icebergs - so that ships do not crash into them
In December 2023, Drone Solutions spoke about the creation of the Hornet and Stork drones, which will be used for ice wiring and marking icebergs on the Northern Sea Route. Read more here.
Map of existing and planned joint projects with China along the sea route
Russia for the first time conducted thin-hull oil tankers through the Arctic
Main article: Oil exports from Russia
In September 2023, Russia first conducted thin-hull oil tankers through the Arctic. In August, the two tankers were granted permission to complete a route along Russia's northern coast despite not being so-called "ice class" tankers, which are reinforced to operate in harsher conditions.
Gazprom for the first time delivered a batch of LNG of its own production along the Northern Sea Route
On September 15, 2023, the Veliky Novgorod gas tanker with a batch of liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced by Gazprom at the Complex near the Portovaya CS completed unloading at the Tangshan LNG receiving terminal in China. This is stated in the message of Gazprom, published on the company's website.
As specified in the company, this is the first delivery of LNG produced by Gazprom along the Northern Sea Route. Read more here.
Mishustin instructed to speed up the creation of a remote sensing system for the Earth
The Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin gave instructions following the June 2023 strategic session on development. Northern Sea Route (NSR) One of them concerns the acceleration of the creation of a national remote sensing system Lands for monitoring ice formation and ice conditions based on the modern national space satellite constellation. More. here
Russia has developed a "nuclear battery" capable of warming the Northern Sea Route. Rosatom will spend billions on it
On April 12, 2023, the Kurchatov Institute, a national research center, announced the development of the so-called "nuclear battery," which is expected to help provide energy to hard-to-reach areas throughout Russia. We are talking about a low-power nuclear thermoelectric station (ATST) "Elena-M." Read more here.
Turkey seeks participation in projects in the Arctic
By 2023, the Arctic region is rapidly turning into one of the most promising growth points for the Russian economy. Interest in this region has noticeably intensified not only from China, but also from India, South Korea and Turkey.
How does the Turkish side see its participation in Arctic projects?
Back in 2018, a national polar scientific program was published, which outlined Turkey's interests in the region. As part of the program, it was planned to develop a roadmap for joining the Arctic Council. Turkish authorities have expressed a desire to join the Svalbard treaty.
The study of the Arctic in Turkey is being conducted at the Tubitak Marmar Center, at the Institute for Arctic Research. According to the head of the institute, Bursu Ozsoy, joining the treaty will give Turkey the right to engage in marine, mining, trade and industrial activities, as well as fishing and hunting in the region.
By March 2023, representatives of Norway suggested that the Turkish side either work in the Arctic under their patronage, or engage in scientific and environmental research without conducting economic and trade activities.
What projects can we talk about at the initial stage?
First of all, Turkey can take part in shipbuilding for the Northern Sea Route, the Rybar channel noted.
The Northern Sea Route, among other things, is focused on the supply of resources and minerals to China and the supply of finished goods from China to the EU. This is essentially an internal waterway of the Russian Federation, protected from piracy and sanctions of unfriendly countries.
Due to the lack of icebreaking merchant fleet in the Russian Federation, necessary for work in high latitudes, cooperation in the field of shipbuilding is most promising. In the Russian shipbuilding at this time there is a lack of capacity and quite serious problems with the production of marine engines for large-tonnage ships.
Turkish shipyards already have experience in building ships precisely for the Northern Sea Route. Russian nuclear icebreakers will operate on the most difficult sections of the route, and the bulk of traffic can be provided at the expense of the non-nuclear fleet.
According to Maxim Kulinko, deputy director of the Northern Sea Route, it is planned to place orders for the construction of non-nuclear icebreakers at shipyards in China and Turkey. The customer is Rosatom. The Turkish shipyard Kuzey Star Shipyard for March 2023 is already fulfilling the order of Rosatom for the construction of a floating dock for nuclear icebreakers.
For the Russian side, cooperation with South Korean shipyards would be a good alternative, but the American authorities are putting serious pressure on them.
On the other hand, in 2023, in the Arctic region, Russia is opposed to seven NATO countries, which are actively increasing their military presence. This requires immediate actions aimed at creating civil infrastructure, industrial facilities and strengthening the Arctic grouping of the RF Armed Forces to cover one of the most promising export routes. In this context, contacts with the Turkish side on the development of the Northern Sea Route look rather suspicious. Turkey is primarily a member of NATO.
Mishustin allocated 27.5 billion rubles to expand the seaport of Pevek in the Arctic
In March 2023, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed an order to allocate more than 27.6 billion rubles for the construction of a new terminal in the port of Pevek in Chukotka. Thus, work continues in the Russian Federation on the development and arrangement of the Northern Sea Route (NSR), the most important transport corridor of national and world importance, the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers noted. Read more here.
The Russian Ministry of Defense proposes to ban the passage of foreign ships through the NSR without Russian permission
In March 2023, it became known that the Russian Ministry of Defense proposes to ban foreign ships from sailing along the Northern Sea Route without Russian permission. The application must be submitted 90 days before sailing, it will be impossible for "foreigners" to enter Russian ports. The Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Transport supported the initiative.
Allocated 4 billion rubles for the creation of an "ice navigator"
The Russian authorities in 2023-2024 will allocate about 4 billion rubles to create a digital ecosystem of the Northern Sea Route (NSR), Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said at a meeting with his deputies on January 16, 2023. The head of the Government of the Russian Federation signed the relevant documents.
As the press service of the Cabinet clarifies, we are talking about the creation of an "ice navigator" that allows you to lay a safe route with high accuracy in the constantly changing conditions of the Arctic Ocean. The creation of a digital ecosystem includes the installation of on-board automated information and measuring systems on ships in the NSR, as well as aircraft and ice reconnaissance helicopters. It is assumed that thanks to the data of such complexes, it will be possible to increase the accuracy of assessing the meteorological and navigation situation. Then the formed array of information about weather conditions, the location of ships and icebreakers, port congestion will fall on the Unified Platform for Digital Services of the NSR, where registered users - cargo carriers, shipowners, ship captains and insurers can work with it.
 | "It will be possible to collect more complete information on weather conditions and monitor the situation in real time, improve the safety of navigation on the Northern Sea Route, which is very important for timely delivery of goods, including within the framework of northern delivery and for export," Mishustin said. |  |
The creation of the digital ecosystem is scheduled to be completed by mid-2025. It is underway within the framework of the federal project "Development of the Northern Sea Route," the government said.
On the basis of the created information platform, logistics services will be provided to shipping companies using the Northern Sea Route. We are talking, among other things, about issuing permits for the passage of ships, monitoring, dispatching, managing the operation of the fleet.[3]
Mishustin allocated billions of rubles for infrastructure projects
In January 2023, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed an order and decree, which allocated new funds for infrastructure projects necessary for the development of Northern Sea Route
One of the documents approved the amount of budget investments in the construction of the Port'Bukhta Sever'oil terminal. In 2023, they will amount to more than 2 billion, and in rubles 2024 - more than 1.6 billion rubles.
At the expense of federal funding, work will be carried out to deepen the port's water area, as well as navigation tools and facilities of the maritime security system will be installed. This will make it possible to conduct ice-class sea vessels with a payload of over 120 thousand tons. The commissioning of the new port infrastructure is scheduled for 2024.
The port "Bay North" will serve the Payakh group of deposits in the north of the Krasnoyarsk Territory near Dixon. It will become the largest oil loading terminal in Russia with a fleet for receiving and storing oil. The appearance of "Bay North" will allow by 2024 to increase the total volume of cargo transportation through the NSR to 80 million tons.
| | We hope that the measures taken will stimulate economic activity in the Arctic zone, improve transport accessibility and supply of its residents with the necessary products and generally accelerate the development of the region, - said Mikhail Mishustin during a meeting with Deputy Prime Ministers on January 16, 2023. | |
As the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers recalled, the Northern Sea Route is the shortest water route between the European part of Russia and the Far East. The length of the path from the Kara Gate to Providence Bay is about 5.6 thousand km. At the same time, it is completely located in the territorial waters and the exclusive economic zone of Russia, which is especially important in conditions of external sanctions pressure, when logistics supply chains are violated, the government added.[4]
2022
Statement of JSC GLONASS on the creation of a local navigation system for the Northern Sea Route
On November 28, 2022, GLONASS JSC announced the creation of a local navigation system to provide communication along the entire Northern Sea Route (NSR). According to Mikhail Korablev, chief designer of the company, it is assumed that the platforms will not depend on satellite navigation.
At the first stage, the system will work in the area of the Ob Bay, and then it will cover the entire Northern Sea Route.
{{quote 'Thus, we will be able to solve the problem of guaranteed navigation support for the entire Arctic zone, which needs this service, - said Korablev, whose words are quoted by TASS. }}
In October 2022, Roscosmos reported that by 2024, the Russian orbital constellation would be expanded with two Arctic-M hydrometeorological vehicles, as well as the Condor-FKA and Review-R satellites for radar surveillance. By 2026, the state corporation plans to withdraw four Express-RV devices for broadband Internet, in particular, along the Northern Sea Route.
The NSR runs along the northern shores of Russia and connects the European and Far Eastern ports of the Russian Federation, as well as the mouths of navigable Siberian rivers. Its length is 5600 km from the Kara Gate Strait to Providence Bay. Navigation in the eastern sector of the NSR in winter is impossible without icebreaking (ice thickness reaches 3 m). The project for the transition to year-round navigation along the Northern Sea Route is strategic for Russia. According to the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East, this will make the NSR a full-fledged alternative to the Suez Canal, reducing the sea route from Europe to Asia by more than 30%.
In October 2022, a navigation satellite was launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome. Glonass-K GLONASS general designer Sergei Karutin said that the new Glonass-K2 spacecraft will ensure navigation accuracy of less than 30 cm[5]
1.8 trillion rubles are allocated for the development of the Northern Sea Route
The Government of the Russian Federation approved a plan for the development of the Northern Sea Route until 2035, it is planned to allocate 1.8 trillion rubles for its implementation. This was announced on September 7, 2022 by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his speech during the Eastern Economic Forum (WEF).
According to the Russian leader, the money for the development of the project will be taken "from different sources." Putin said that the cargo flow of this corridor could grow from 35 million tons to a target of 220 million tons. The President announced the need to create conditions for servicing ships throughout the Northern Sea Route.
The fact that the Cabinet of Ministers will allocate 1.8 trillion rubles for the development of the Northern Sea Route became known back in August 2022. Then Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said that more than 150 events would be included in the route development program. Among them - the construction of the terminal of liquefied natural gas and gas condensate "Utrenny," the oil loading terminal "Bukhta Sever," the coal terminal "Yenisei." In addition, the plan provides for the construction of onshore and hydraulic structures to provide the Baimskoye field, the creation of offshore transshipment complexes of liquefied natural gas in the Kamchatka Territory and the Murmansk Region, a hub port for organizing transit traffic in Vladivostok.
It is also planned to build a transport and logistics hub in the seaport of Korsakov on Sakhalin, develop the Murmansk and Arkhangelsk transport hubs, build bunkering and maintenance bases in the ports of Tiksi and Dixon.
A separate section of the plan is devoted to the creation of ships of the icebreaker fleet, including the lead icebreaker of the Leader project, and the development of Arctic shipbuilding and ship repair production facilities.
In addition, measures are envisaged to build an emergency rescue fleet of 46 vessels, equip the Arctic complex emergency rescue centers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations with helicopters. An Arctic satellite constellation will also be created, which will provide hydrometeorological and navigation support for shipping and allow assessing climate change.[6]
Plan for the supply of 32 million tons of cargo by the container ship "Sevmorput"
In 2022, 32 million tons of cargo are planned to be delivered along the Northern Sea Route. Part of the work will be taken over by the container ship "Northern Sea Route." This became known on May 24, 2022.
A transport vessel with a nuclear plant can sail in high latitudes without the help of icebreakers and be unloaded directly onto the ice, without a pier.
2021: Creation of a digital platform for navigation along the Northern Sea Route
In early August 2021, it became known about the creation in Russia of a digital platform for navigation along the Northern Sea Route (NSR). Rosatom was engaged in the implementation of the project worth about 2.9 billion rubles. Read more here.
Notes
- ↑ 175 billion rubles are proposed to be invested in the development of the Great Northern Sea Route in 2025‒2027
- ↑ The volume of transit traffic through the NSR in 2023 reached a record 2.15 million tons
- ↑ The Cabinet of Ministers will allocate 4 billion rubles for the creation of an "ice navigator" of the Northern Sea Route
- ↑ Government to fund infrastructure projects needed to develop Northern Sea Route
- ↑ GLONASS will create a local navigation system for the Northern Sea Route
- ↑ Putin: 1.8 trillion rubles will be spent on the implementation of the Northern Sea Route program
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