The Northern Sea Route: will it be the route of the XXI century?
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.
The fact that the development of
the Arctic transportation system
in this century was discussed in St.
Petersburg at the international forum
is very appropriate. For it was here
that Mikhail Lomonosov first scientifically explained and theoretically
proved the possibility of passing from
the Atlantic to the Pacific by the
Northern Sea Route in the 18th century. And in our times, due to the
research of the Polar Marine Prospecting Expedition enterprise, we can
add an area of 1.5 million square
kilometers of the continental shelf of
the Arctic Ocean, which is extremely
rich in resources,to the jurisdiction
of Russia. Experts from the Malachite engineering company in our
city are working on the project of an
underwater Arctic transportation system that includes an underwater tanker. Yes, it is seven times more expensive than an above-water tanker, but
designers are convinced that two
such tankers can replace eleven
Samotlor-type above-water tankers
thanks to their speed, efficiency and
other properties. Large expenses are
certainly inevitable, especially at the
beginning, but designers suggest a reduction of cost due to "demobilization" of many submarines no longer
used by the armed forces. Besides,
there is a large reserve of military
submarine bodies, which are very
unlikely to ever be used as submarines.
In our days, the development of the
Northern Sea Route is especially important, for there have been new oil
and gas fields discovered in the north,
such as the Stockman field where gas
reserves are estimated at 3.2 trillion
cubic meters, or the Prirazlomnoye
oil field in the sea with more than
100 million tons. Such fields have been
discovered in the world for the first time.
There is also a unique diamond field.
It is well known that if 10 to 12 percent of diamonds
are of gem-quality, the field is deemed
to be very good. And we have 62
percent! Just imagine what rich resources we have. All that is needed
Is to use them correctly.
The Northern Sea Route is a
navigable waterway that
passes along the Russian coast
through the seas of the Arctic
Ocean. Despite the financial difficulties,
the Northern Sea Route administration
and the Ministry for Transport
are doing everything possible
to make the route work for the
economy of the North. We will
enter the 21st century with automatic control systems of ship
movement. There are already
four stations in the western sector that allow us to determine
the location of an icebreaker
or a transportation vessel automatically. In the year 2000,
we will install the last one, and
we already have electronic
maps and other technical
means for this purpose.
Not so long ago, the Northern
Sea Route was the locomotive
of both the Russian economy and
of the country's scientific and technical progress. Now many ports on
the Arctic Ocean coast and many
mining, construction, and other enterprises have practically ceased operating.
The main task of operative
commissions has now become
handling the shipment of fuel and
foods to the North. Whenever a
crisis occurs, Minister Shoigu flies
to the place of the problem. Why?
To take fuel from one place to
another? If the state structure
worked normally, such things
would not occur. It is high time
that the problem was radically
changed.