MOSCOW, September 7. /TASS/. The shortage of ice-class vessels necessary for the year-round navigation along the Northern Sea Route (NSR), may be solved jointly with partners from India and China, Minister for Development of the Far East and Arctic Alexey Chekunkov said.

"I am most concerned about the availability of a sufficient number of ice-class vessels. <...> I am looking forward to the participation in the Eastern Economic Forum of India's minister of ports, [shipping] & waterways. India is interested in working together to develop the northern navigation and potentially in joint shipbuilding. It is a fairly large ocean power. Of course, China. <...> Together, we will be able to produce ice-class vessels in a sufficient quantity," he said in an interview with the RBC television.

According to the minister, Russia still lacks vessels to be able to transport 200 million tons of cargo along the Northern Sea Route in 7-8 years. "The production cycle of a large ice-class tanker is not months, but years. These decisions need to be made very soon. Do we have that many shipyards, do we have that many specialists - this is probably just an interesting topic to discuss with our largest partners in terms of cooperation," he added.

The minister pointed to an acute discussion about whether icebreaking services are state or market services. "The companies that have already invested trillions of rubles in gas extraction and liquefaction, in new oil extraction, in the extraction of precious metals, will anyway find ways to ship the cargoes. But for us, as a state, it is more profitable if we offer to the world this guaranteed route, which is protected, year-round, predictable, and with a regular schedule, and not to have it remain with subsoil users and major businesses. Therefore, this compromise will be implemented, and we will fulfil the program to develop the icebreaking fleet," he said in conclusion.