Russia: Third of 10 Arctic search and rescue centre opens on Northern Sea Route
The third of ten planned search and rescue centers along the Northern Sea Route has opened in Arkhangelsk, Russia.
The center is designed to provide search and rescue operations on land and at sea and handle emergency situations in the Arctic zone of Arkhangelsk Oblast and Nenets Autonomous Okrug, an area of more than 1.5 million square kilometers. Its area of responsibility covers the Severnaya Dvina delta, the White Sea, the south-eastern parts of the Barents Sea and the western parts of the Kara Sea, the Arkhangelsk Department of the Ministry of Emergency Affairs’ web site reads.
The center, which celebrated its official opening in the end of September, will have capacities for fire-fighting, diving and oil spill clean-up. It is equipped with boats for search and rescue operations, fire-fighting vessels, RIB’s, off-road vehicles and snow scooters.
Hoping for increased cargo traffic along the Northern Sea Route, Russia in 2009 allocated 910 million rubles (app €20.6 million at the time) for construction of ten search and rescue centers along the route, from Murmansk in the west to Provideniya in the East. The first centers have been opened in Naryan-Mar and in Dudinka. All centers are planned to be operational by 2015.
Related stories from around the North:
Asia: Full steam ahead for Asian icebreakers in the Arctic this summer, Blog by Mia Bennett
Canada: Canada’s Arctic patrol ships – A $250M mystery, CBC News
Finland: New Finland icebreaker can operate sideways with asymmetrical hull, Yle News
Russia: Rosatomflot prolongs North Pole cruises, Barents Observer
Sweden: Swedish icebreakers gear up for Arctic role, Radio Sweden
United States: Alaska ships its first oil to Asia in a decade, Cryopolitics
