MOSCOW, June 23. /TASS/. Amid the Middle East conflicts, the Northern Sea Route is becoming the safest and most stable route between Asia and Europe, polar explorer and Arctic researcher, head of the Pro Travel Expedition Center Bogdan Bulychev told TASS.
"The conflict between Iran and Israel, like the attacks in the Red Sea, has limited dramatically sailing in the key southern straits. [The Strait of] Hormuz is on the verge of closure, GPS is being failed, transponders are being turned off, and the tanker fleet is on hold. Global logistics changes routes, and ship insurance rates have soared. Against this background, the Northern Sea Route, which has been argued for a long time, suddenly becomes the safest and most stable route between Asia and Europe," he said.
The Arctic and the Northern Sea Route have become the key to sustainability, he continued. "Stability in these latitudes depends directly on Russia's presence and control. The Northern Sea Route is not just a route through ice. It is the transarctic belt of security and influence. <...> Given the global conflicts, the Arctic is not the edge of the earth, it becomes the center of global interests," he added.
The Northern Sea Route is a shipping route in the Russian Arctic that runs along Russia's northern shores of the Arctic Ocean seas (the Barents, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi and Bering Seas). It connects the Russian Federation's European and Far Eastern ports, as well as 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.