Traffic via the Northern Sea Route (NSR) that runs across Arctic waters continues to grow and hit new records in 2013, as more and more companies are testing the path's feasibility, according to a data by Russia's state-run nuclear fleet Rosatomflot and the route's authority.
Russia is actively developing the passage -- which allows vessels to travel east from the Barents Sea along the Russian coast, through the Bering Strait and then down to the Pacific Ocean -- as it plans to use it for transportation of crude and LNG to be produced in the Russian Arctic area to international markets.
Russia also hopes to turn it into a major international trade artery, alternative to the traditional route from northern Europe to the Asian-Pacific markets, as it offers a number of advantages, including much shorter route.
Last year, total cargoes transited the NSR rose to 1.356 million mt, up 7.4% year on year, according to data by Stanislav Golovinsky, deputy general director at Russia's state-run nuclear fleet Rosatomflot, who was speaking at the Arctic Oil and Gas forum in Moscow, organized by the Adam Smith Conferences.
This includes a pilot shipping of 75,000 mt of naphtha from Russian port of Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea to South Korea and 66,868 mt of LNG, which became the second LNG cargo sent via the icy waters of the NSR.
While the increase in combined tonnage was not impressive last year, the number of cargoes transiting via the NSR from an international port to international port rose 1.8 times, said Alexander Olshevsky, head of the NSR Administration, speaking at the same event.
The traffic via the NSR rose to a record 71 sailings, up 54% from 46 sailings in 2012, according to Golovinsky's data. Of the total, 22 vessels transited without commercial cargo.
Rosatomflot is preparing to expand its operations as the turnover via the route is expected to grow drastically after Novatek commissions first 5.5 million mt/year train of its Yamal LNG project, scheduled for early 2017. The project includes three trains with combined capacity of 16.5 million mt/year, and the output is expected to be sent to the Asian markets via the NSR, during the navigation season, to take advantage of shorter route.
The NSR is opened for navigation for some five months, from July through November but Golovinsky said that the navigating window could be longer in certain years.
In 2010, Rosatomflot supported navigation of a ship that took place between December 16 and 25, he said.
In 2013, the NSR Administration granted a total of 635 permissions to navigate via the passage, of which 127, or 20%, permissions were issued to vessels under foreign flags, Olshevsky said.
There were a total of 718 applications, he added.
RECENT SHIPPING ACTIVITY ALONG THE NSR
Total transit cargoes via NSR*:
2013, 71 sailings: 1,355,897 mt
2012, 46 sailings: 1,262,000 mt
2011, 34 sailings: 820,789 mt
2010, 4 sailings: 110,000 mt
* Data by Rosatomflot.
The NSR covers the 3,000-mile long icebound route from Novaya Zemlya Island in the Arctic Ocean that separates the Barents and Kara Seas, to Cape Dezhnev, the northeastern-most point of Eurasia on the Chukchi Peninsula.
It is 3,900 nautical miles shorter than the traditional route which is over 11,000 nautical miles. This translates into a reduced voyage time -- by about 40%, or up to 20 days, for cargoes destined for Japan, China or South Korea.
It also avoids political risks, the traditional route via Suez faces, but offers tough weather conditions and icy waters instead.
In addition, there are requirements for vessel's ice class and size and the necessity to pay service fee for the escort of two powerful icebreakers to navigate through the most difficult section of the route.
Russia is actively developing the passage -- which allows vessels to travel east from the Barents Sea along the Russian coast, through the Bering Strait and then down to the Pacific Ocean -- as it plans to use it for transportation of crude and LNG to be produced in the Russian Arctic area to international markets.
Russia also hopes to turn it into a major international trade artery, alternative to the traditional route from northern Europe to the Asian-Pacific markets, as it offers a number of advantages, including much shorter route.
Last year, total cargoes transited the NSR rose to 1.356 million mt, up 7.4% year on year, according to data by Stanislav Golovinsky, deputy general director at Russia's state-run nuclear fleet Rosatomflot, who was speaking at the Arctic Oil and Gas forum in Moscow, organized by the Adam Smith Conferences.
This includes a pilot shipping of 75,000 mt of naphtha from Russian port of Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea to South Korea and 66,868 mt of LNG, which became the second LNG cargo sent via the icy waters of the NSR.
While the increase in combined tonnage was not impressive last year, the number of cargoes transiting via the NSR from an international port to international port rose 1.8 times, said Alexander Olshevsky, head of the NSR Administration, speaking at the same event.
The traffic via the NSR rose to a record 71 sailings, up 54% from 46 sailings in 2012, according to Golovinsky's data. Of the total, 22 vessels transited without commercial cargo.
Rosatomflot is preparing to expand its operations as the turnover via the route is expected to grow drastically after Novatek commissions first 5.5 million mt/year train of its Yamal LNG project, scheduled for early 2017. The project includes three trains with combined capacity of 16.5 million mt/year, and the output is expected to be sent to the Asian markets via the NSR, during the navigation season, to take advantage of shorter route.
The NSR is opened for navigation for some five months, from July through November but Golovinsky said that the navigating window could be longer in certain years.
In 2010, Rosatomflot supported navigation of a ship that took place between December 16 and 25, he said.
In 2013, the NSR Administration granted a total of 635 permissions to navigate via the passage, of which 127, or 20%, permissions were issued to vessels under foreign flags, Olshevsky said.
There were a total of 718 applications, he added.
RECENT SHIPPING ACTIVITY ALONG THE NSR
Total transit cargoes via NSR*:
2013, 71 sailings: 1,355,897 mt
2012, 46 sailings: 1,262,000 mt
2011, 34 sailings: 820,789 mt
2010, 4 sailings: 110,000 mt
* Data by Rosatomflot.
The NSR covers the 3,000-mile long icebound route from Novaya Zemlya Island in the Arctic Ocean that separates the Barents and Kara Seas, to Cape Dezhnev, the northeastern-most point of Eurasia on the Chukchi Peninsula.
It is 3,900 nautical miles shorter than the traditional route which is over 11,000 nautical miles. This translates into a reduced voyage time -- by about 40%, or up to 20 days, for cargoes destined for Japan, China or South Korea.
It also avoids political risks, the traditional route via Suez faces, but offers tough weather conditions and icy waters instead.
In addition, there are requirements for vessel's ice class and size and the necessity to pay service fee for the escort of two powerful icebreakers to navigate through the most difficult section of the route.