MOSCOW, November 20. /TASS/. Russia will take extra efforts to expedite construction of icebreakers, auxiliary and emergency evacuation vessels and ports outfit along the Northern Sea Route, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said at the plenary session of the Transport of Russia forum.

"We will start the proactive expansion of the icebreaker fleet, including nuclear-powered one, and build auxiliary and emergency evacuation ships for reliable support of year-round navigation [along the Northern Sea Route]. The package of all the measures will make it possible to strengthen our leadership in the Arctic region," the prime minister said.

The Northern Sea Route is among the key priorities, being the shortest and the safe route to countries of the Asia-Pacific Region, Mishustin noted. "The cargo traffic along the Northern Sea Route steadily approaches 40 mln metric tons. We expect it will be above 100 mln metric tons by the end of the decade. Certainly, it is needed that shippers of goods conveniently use our seaports. We will continue building modern terminals, throughput facilities and approaches to them there," he added.