Russia aims to make Northern Sea Route world-class shipping lane
With new super-powerful icebreakers, the Russian Arctic route might be able to compete with the Suez Canal, leader of nuclear power company Rosatom argues.
The building of a fleet of Lider nuclear-powered icebreakers could radically alter international shipping and trade routes, General Director Aleksey Likhachev makes clear in an interview with Reuters.
With the 120 MW icebreakers, the by far most powerful Arctic vessels ever built, Russia will be able to open up major shipping lanes across the ice-covered Arctic and provide trans-Arctic shipments at high speed, Likhachev says in the interview that is re-published on the state company’s website.
Must be competitive
According to Likhachev, three Lider vessels will be able to provide tankers with trans-Arctic voyages at a speed of 10-12 knots.
“They must move like a commuter train with a fixed time schedule,” he underlines.
“There must be convoys that form, meet each other halfway and are headed by the icebreakers, [and] if we do not make it with a speed of 18-20 km per hour, the operational costs of the shipping companies will soon start to grow and they could drop out of the market,” Likhachev says.
It all depends on icebreaker capacities and the company leader is confident that the vessels will be built.
“There are risks, but we eye a confirmation that the Lider icebreaker project, on which year-round shipments depend, is progressing,” Likhachev says in the interview.
New responsibilities
The Russian state company was in January 2019 officially granted the leading role in the main development of the Northern Sea Route, the seaway that stretches from the archipelago of Novaya Zemlya to the Bering Strait. The company that employs more than 250,000 people and engages in a multitude of activities related to nuclear power development and production is now formally Russia’s management authority for the vast Arctic area.
The law was adopted by the State Duma on the 11th December and on the 28th signed by Vladimir Putin.
The new legislation came into force as Russian Arctic shipping is on rapid increase. In 2018, more than 18 million tons of goods was transported on the sea route, an increase of almost 70 percent from 2017. And more is to come. According to Vladimir Putin so-called May Decrees, the top national priorities, shipping on the Northern Sea Route is to reach 80 million tons already by year 2024.
Rosatom’s new powers in the Arctic include development and operational responsibilities for shipping, as well as infrastructure and sea ports along the northern Russian coast.
According to Likhachev, as much as 735 billion rubles (€10.3 billion) are to be spent on the development of the Northern Sea Route as part of Putin’s May Decrees. The state share of the sum amounts to 274 billion rubles (€3.8 billion). The rest will be covered by private companies like Rosneft, Novatek, Gazprom, Gazprom Next and Nornickel, he makes clear.
Asian buyers
The lion’s share of the goods shipped along the NSR is likely to be natural gas and oil and the top buyers will be located in Asian countries. That follows the ongoing shift towards alternative energy sources in Europe, the Rosatom leader argues.
“In connection with the serious changes in the energy balance of Europe, the European course will significantly decrease while deliveries to the Asian-Pacific region increase.”
Several new reactors
With the stronger role of Rosatom in the Arctic comes a boost in the development of new nuclear capacities in the region. As described in the paper Nuclear Reactors in Arctic Russia, a publication from the Barents Observer, a wave of additional nuclear reactors is now coming to the north. That includes both the military and civilian sectors.
In a conference this month, a representative of Rosatom reportedly hinted that the company is in the process of planning for the construction of up to 30 nuclear-powered container carriers designed for shipments on the Northern Sea Route. Present at the event was news agency Portnews.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: The Arctic shipping route no one is talking about, Cryopolitics Blog
Norway: LNG-reloading operations end in Norway’s Arctic waters, The Independent Barents Observer
Russia: New Russian icebreaker will boost year-round shipping on Northern Sea Route, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: Local shipping generates more emissions than domestic flights, Radio Sweden
United States: New U.S. icebreaker will focus on Antarctic, says Coast Guard boss, Alaska Public Media
