MOSCOW, May 26. /TASS/. The Northern Sea Route (NSR) total traffic in 2022 has grown by 6% year-on-year, Rosatom’s special representative on the Arctic Vladimir Panov told the State Duma’s meeting on development of the Far East and Arctic.
"As of May 25, the amount of 13.5 million tonnes has been handled. If we compare it to a similar period in 2021, the growth is 6%," he said, stressing the February events had not affected the traffic.
The state-run Rosatom Corporation is responsible for 11 events and participates also in implementation of 24 events under the national policies in the Arctic, he continued. The corporation is responsible for building icebreakers, development of the Northern Sea Route’s infrastructures, navigation-hydrography services, digital services, NSR navigation management, and the organization of a Russian container operator.
Rosatom’s representative focused on the development of sea ports Pevek and Sabetta. At the Pevek port, the upgrade of berths number 1 and number 2 is about to be completed and they will be commissioned, he said. At the Sabetta port, dredging works continue. "The total volume has exceeded 60 million tonnes, including an absolute record in 2021 - 23 million tonnes," he said. "The work has been fulfilled by 70% already."
The sea canal at the Sabetta port has been upgraded to serve vessels with high deadweight, first of all Novatek’s vessels carrying LNG. "The canal will be expanded by 1.6 times - from 293 to 473 meters. The length is 59km. The total volume of completed dredging works is 47 million tonnes," he said.
The Northern Sea Route is a shipping route and the main sea line in the Russian Arctic sector. It stretches along northern coasts of Russia across the seas of the Arctic Ocean (Barents, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi and Bering seas). The route consolidates European and Far Eastern ports of Russia and navigable river mouths in Siberia into a single transport system. The route’s length is 5,600 km from the Kara Strait to the Providence Bay.