ST. PETERSBURG, June 20. /TASS/. With the organization of a single company to manage the Northern Sea Route the navigation safety there improved, especially in the high-risk months - June and October, Rosatom's special envoy on the Arctic development Vladimir Panov told the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
Rosatom is the Northern Sea Route's infrastructure operator. In 2022, the Russian government ordered to organize the Northern Sea Route managing company (Glavsevmorput), which is responsible for the navigation, including icebreaker services, and which additionally regulates vessels and routes.
"Glavsevmorput is a newly organized institution. We had not used a centralized approach, one center to manage the entire navigation along the Northern Sea Route. In the past, granting a voyage license ended the regulator's responsibilities, and nowadays the managing company has new options: to stop the license, to change it. Those are very important tasks for the bordering months: June, when we open the navigation in open water, and October - November when we again manage the navigation through ice. Those are the very high-risk months," Rosatom's representative said.
In 2021, before Glavsevmorput was organized, the number of cancelled or delayed icebreaker services in the bordering months reached 30, which meant economic losses and failed delivery terms, he continued. The situation changed greatly as the unified managing center began working.
"We have also managed to structure cooperation with all shippers, to improve ice condition forecasts. Over the 2022 - 2023 navigation, practically every voyage is pre-planned, prepared, and has necessary icebreaker backup. The biggest issue on the Northern Sea Route is the safety. As of today, we can say we have a new institution that is the center of all responsibilities," he added.
Scientific approach to safe navigation
Timely hydrometeorology information is a key aspect for safe navigation along the Northern Sea Route, Director of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI, St. Petersburg) Alexander Makarov said. The institute has been offering this information in cooperation with the Russian nuclear fleet authority, Rosatomflot.
"We provide hydrometeorology information 24/7. This information is used in planning positions of icebreakers and in everyday work. The growing traffic requires more detailed data on ice conditions along the Northern Sea Route. The data amounts are growing, we know how to collect it, we have been offering hydrometeorology data and we are confident that using this information will improve the safety, speed of sailing along NSR, and in case of joint work with icebreakers we will make the Northern Sea Route maximum safe," the scientist said.
For yet more accurate and timely hydrometeorology forecasts, the institute eyes making onboard complexes to analyze ice conditions en route, as well as installing ice beacons along the Northern Sea Route, he continued. Additionally, scientists plan to use data from the North Pole ice-resistant platform.
Demand for Northern Sea Route
During the forum, Minister for Development of the Far East and Arctic Alexey Chekunov said the Northern Sea Route in the current geopolitical conditions is a transport route of high demand.
"Clearly, the tension on traditional sea routes from East Asia to Europe is only growing. Some forecasts say these routes may be disrupted unexpectedly. Those would be billions of tons of cargo, or the import for 3 billion people of, first of all, food, or the export of goods produced in East and South Asia. Thus, the Northern Sea Route as an alternative is most important for the world," the minister said.
About Northern Sea Route
The Northern Sea Route is the shortest sea route between Russia's European and Far Eastern parts. It is located fully within the national territorial sea and within Russia's exclusive economic zone, which is specifically important under the pressure from current sanctions, which disrupt logistics chains. The Northern Sea Route is a most promising global transport corridor. Experts say it will be able to compete with the Suez Canal, offering quicker shipments from Europe to the Pacific Region's countries.
About forum
The 26th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) is Russia’s showcase annual economic and business event. It was held on June 14-17. The theme in 2023 was: "Sovereign Development as the Basis of a Just World: Joining Forces for Future Generations." TASS was the event's official information partner.