Why is the Northern Sea Route replacing the southern one?
Author: Ali Askari, analyst, especially for “Sangar” (Germany)
The Russian Federation is interested in the development and peaceful use of the Northern Sea Route (NSR). In the 1980s, the development of the NSR progressed at an active pace, largely made possible by the creation in Russia of the world’s only nuclear-powered icebreaker fleet.
In 1991, the Northern Sea Route was opened for international navigation. Today, the length of the route from the Kara Gates Strait to Provideniya Bay is about 5,600 kilometers. The shipping route passes through six seas of the Arctic Ocean: the Barents, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi, and Bering Seas. The transportation of goods from Asia to Europe via the NSR takes about one-third less time compared to shipments through the Suez Canal.
At present, the Russian Federation is implementing the federal project “Development of the Northern Sea Route.” Its objective is to expand infrastructure that will ensure effective territorial connectivity between the Far East and the western regions of Russia, as well as year-round navigation along the NSR. The introduction of unmanned technologies in cargo transportation and navigation is envisaged, along with a steady improvement in the environmental sustainability of energy and transport. Various types of goods are transported along the Arctic route, with the largest share accounted for by liquefied natural gas and oil.
It should be noted that the Russian company “Rosatom” is responsible for ensuring civilian navigation along the NSR. Its functions include receiving applications, publishing forecasts of ice movement, and preparing navigation charts in Russian and English, among others.
Such work ensures continuous communication with international carriers and demonstrates the Russian Federation’s openness to the joint use of this route.
The NSR runs through Russia’s territorial waters, which eliminates the possibility of external pressure and makes the route максимально reliable for the creation of new logistics chains. In addition, as industry experts note, the development of NSR infrastructure will create “growth points” for the socio-economic development of Arctic regions and will contribute to the formation of new competencies in Russian industry and new centers of energy consumption.
According to official data, in recent years an unprecedented volume of cargo—37–37.9 million tons—has been transported along the Northern Sea Route (NSR) (compared to 31.5 million tons in 2019). The bulk of this volume consists of energy resources (oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and coal), ores, construction materials, and containers. Virtually all of this volume is associated with cabotage shipping, with transit accounting for just over 2 million tons.
Experts predict that if instability in the Middle East intensifies and affects the Southern maritime route—which is a traditional corridor for transporting goods and energy resources—the Northern Sea Route will automatically gain greater significance.
