MOSCOW, January 11. /TASS/. The Northern Sea Route's total traffic in 2023 exceeded the target rate by more than a quarter of a million tons, press service of the state-run Rosatom Corporation said.
"The total traffic along the Northern Sea Route in 2023 has been updated - it makes 36.254 million tons," the press service said. "Thus, the target rate was exceeded by more than 250,000 tons."
The press service referred to Rosatom's CEO Alexey Likhachev, who said the record traffic along the Northern Sea Route was achieved due to the state corporation's partners. First of all, Novatek, as its LNG accounted for more than half of the handled cargo. "Gazprom Neft, Lukoil, Norilsk Nickel have also played a big role in ramping up the traffic, as they have redirected their cargoes from the western direction to the eastern direction. Thus, we met the target rate of 36 million tons well before the New Year," he said.
In 2023, transit transportation amounted to 2,129,000 tons. The main cargo was oil: 1.5 million tons, about 350,000 tons were iron ore concentrate, and Gazprom sent one vessel with 70,000 tons of liquefied natural gas, and the LC Mining Company shipped a vessel with 70,000 tons. "Transit traffic is a marker of the Northern Sea Route's demand, thus its growth is the most important result from the point of view of the maritime logistics," said Vladimir Panov, Rosatom's special representative for the Arctic Development.
The press service highlighted the growing interest of foreign shipping companies in the Northern Sea Route. "China's NewNew Shipping Line has asked us to convoy and support their sailing along the Northern Sea Route. They have bought low Arctic-class ships, and made already eight voyages in 2023, where they transported almost 100,000 tons of cargo. The final destinations were the ports of China, as well as Arkhangelsk, St. Petersburg and Murmansk. This is an example of how an international business, without expecting complicated political solutions, takes advantages of this new opportunity," said Vyacheslav Ruksha, Rosatom's Deputy CEO and head of the Northern Sea Route's Managing Office.
In 2023, the corporation issued 1,218 permits (compare: in 2022 - 1,163) for sailing in the Northern Sea Route waters, including to 115 foreign companies (in 2022 - to 55). The number of transit voyages was 80 (47 in 2022). Twice icebreakers led ice-free vessels along the Northern Sea Route (NSR) - in August and October: the Gingo bulk carrier and the Platos bulk carrier from the port of Murmansk passed NSR to the Chinese ports of Qingdao and Dalian. Three regular return coastal voyages along the Northern Sea Route were from the northwestern part of Russia to the Far East regions.
The Northern Sea Route
The Northern Sea Route is a shipping route in the Russian Arctic that runs along Russia's northern shores in seas of the Arctic Ocean (the Barents, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi and Bering Seas). It connects the Russian Federation's European and Far Eastern ports as well as the mouths of navigable Siberian rivers into a single transport system. NSR's length from the Kara Gate Strait to the Providence Bay is 5,600 km.