The Northern Sea Route: will it be the route of the XXI centure?

CARGOES CAN BE SHIPPED IN ALMOST HALF THE TIME

Yury Yevdokimov,
Governor of Murmansk Region

         The sharp drop in traffic on the Northern Sea Route does not mean that this important Arctic transport artery is dying, believes Yury Yevdokimov, governor of Murmansk Region. In his opinion, the Northern Sea Route will maintain its functions of providing for northern shipping and transportation of traditional cargoes, such as ores, non-ferrous metals and timber. Yevdokimov is confident that it may soon become one of the most important routes by which cargoes will be shipped from Europe to Asia.
         Until recently, potential Western partners of Murmansk seamen were perturbed by the harsh climatic conditions of the Arctic Ocean. Wary of the unpleasant consequences for ships sailing in heavy Arctic ice, they used longer southern sea routes. However that makes the voyage from Europe to Japan or China twice as long than when the Northern Pass is taken (the Western name for the Northern Sea Route.) Meanwhile, the numerous test journeys of Kandalaksha motorships along the Northern Sea Route from the Baltic Sea to Japan have proved that cargoes can be shipped in almost half the time.
         However this is only realistic during the five or six summer and fall months, when the ice conditions in the Arctic are not so severe. According to Yevdokimov, this is the period when the powerful icebreakers of the Murmansk Sea Ship Company work most effectively. They break their way through any kind of ice.
         Experts believe that the nuclear ice-breaker fleet can be profitable in the present situation if annual traffic on the Northern Sea Route is not less than 2.8 million tons. During last year's navigation season it was almost three times less. Nevertheless, the governor is certain that attractive opportunities exist for increasing Arctic transportation. These are first of all linked to the fact that LUKoil, the giant Russian oil corporation, has come to this region. Next year, the company plans to begin intensive development of the Timan-Pechora province fields. A large tanker fleet is necessary for transportation of oil products, recovered from Arctic bowels. LUKoil has recently restructured its organization in anticipation of work to be conducted in the region.
         As oil and gas production is developed in the Arctic, needs for the shipment of other cargoes will also rise, including those from Western European countries. Traffic increase is possible by means of the export of metals and mineral fertilizers from Russia to South Asian countries.