ARKHANGELSK, March 25. /TASS/. Building of 16 emergency response and rescue vessels of different types for the Northern Sea Route (NSR) will begin in 2021, special representative of the nuclear authority, Rosatom state-run corporation, Vladimir Panov said during the Arctic Ports forum in Arkhangelsk on Wednesday.

"In 2021, the Ministry of Transport and the Marine Rescue Service will begin building 16 emergency response and rescue vessels of different types, which will be ready by 2023-2025," he said.

The vessels will be distributed along the entire Northern Sea Route, he said.

"We will organize safety lines both in the western and in the eastern parts of the Northern Sea Route," he added.

In late 2020, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, the president’s envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yuri Trutnev ordered the Ministry of Transport and the river and sea fleet authority, Rosmorrechflot, to draft a roadmap for building the emergency response and rescue fleet for the Northern Sea Route. The emergency response and rescue fleet on the Northern Sea Route is a guarantee of transport safety. In 2020-2024, the federal budget will undertake the expenses of 38.7 billion rubles ($507 million) for construction of 16 vessels, which will make the emergency response and rescue fleet on the Northern Sea Route.

The river and sea fleet authority, Rosmorrechflot, planned to enter contracts on building of 16 emergency response and rescue vessels in May and October, 2020. However, the contracts were not signed, and the allocated money was repaid to the federal budget.

About the Northern Sea Route

The Northern Sea Route is a shipping route, the main sea communication in the Russian Arctic. It passes along the northern shores of Russia along the seas of the Arctic Ocean (the Barents Sea, the Kara Sea, the Laptev Sea, the East Siberian Sea, the Chukchi Sea and the Bering Sea). The NSR connects the European and Far Eastern ports of Russia, as well as the mouths of navigable Siberian rivers into a single transport system. The route is 5,600 km long - from the Kara Gates Strait to Provideniya Bay.