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Year-round navigation along Northern Sea Route will start from 2024 — Deputy PM

According to Alexander Novak, for the development of the industry, a center for the construction of large-capacity offshore structures has been created, which can mass-produce liquefied natural gas lines in Murmansk

MOSCOW, November 22. /TASS/. Year-round maritime navigation along the Northern Sea Route will be ensured from 2024, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said at a government hour in the Federation Council.

"For the development of the industry, a center for the construction of large-capacity offshore structures has been created, which can mass-produce liquefied natural gas lines in Murmansk. In this context, the Northern Sea Route is of particular importance. By instruction of the Chairman of the Government, coordinated work is underway to develop the necessary infrastructure. From 2024, year-round navigation will be ensured there," he said.

The Northern Sea Route is a shipping route and the main sea line in the Russian Arctic sector. It stretches along the northern coasts of Russia across the seas of the Arctic Ocean (Barents, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi and Bering seas). The route consolidates the 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 Providence Bay.

Full year-round use of the route requires icebreaker support. The entire nuclear icebreaker fleet is under the jurisdiction of the federal state unitary enterprise Atomflot, part of the Rosatom state corporation.