MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/. A sea terminal to reload liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Kamchatka will increase manifold trips along the the Northern Sea Route (NSR), Russia’s presidential envoy to the Far East Yuri Trutnev said in an interview with the NTV television channel.

"Presently, about 7 million tonnes a year [are transported along NSR], but, as Novatek’s project on LNG reloading in Kamchatka goes operational, additional 40 [million tonnes] will make the increase manifold," he said. "This would mean using the Northern Sea Route the year round."

Novatek will build in Kamchatka a sea terminal to reload LNG, with the annual capacity of about 20 million tonnes.

According to Kamchatka’s government, the new terminal will optimize the transport logistics in delivering LNG from the Arctic regions to clients in the Asia-Pacific Region (APR), will stimulate use of the Northern Sea Route, and further on the new terminal may be developed into an independent center of LNG price formation in the APR. Thanks to the project, Kamchatka will receive gas necessary for the region’s energy security.

About the Northern Sea Route

The Northern Sea Route before the early XX century was called the North-Eastern Route. Russia’s official documents describe NSR as "Russia’s historically formed national transport communication." The route goes along Russia’s northern shores crossing the Arctic Ocean (Seas Barents, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi and Bering), it connects the European transport system with the Russian Far Eastern sea ports as well as with estuaries of the Siberian navigable rivers

NSR’s length between the Kara Bay and the Provideniya Bay is 5,600 km. The navigation lasts for 2-4 months - icebreakers make it year-round.