I/B Arktika escorted LNG tanker Eduard Toll along the Northern Sea Route
The fleet of icebreakers operating on NSR to number 17 units by 2030
Lead multipurpose nuclear-powered icebreaker Arktika has completed escorting LNG tanker Eduard Toll along the seaway canal in the Gulf of Ob. The tanker then proceeded to port Sabetta (Yamal), according to the Telegram channel of Atomflot (a company of Rosatom).
Earlier, in January 2023 I/B Arktika escorted LNG tankers Boris Vilkitsky and Vladimir Voronin along the challenging lanes of the Northern Sea Route. Both tankers were escorted to Russky Island in the Kara Sea. According to FSBI Glavsevmorput, these escort operations confirm the readiness to year-round navigation on the Northern Sea Route.
State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM has been a single infrastructure operator of the Northern Sea Route from 2018. It is in charge of organizing shipping, construction of infrastructure facilities, ensuring navigation and hydrographic support and safety in challenging Arctic conditions. The authority of Rosatom’s NSR Directorate covers Atomflot, Hydrographic Company and Glavsevmorput.
As Vyacheslav Ruksha said earlier, the fleet of icebreakers operating on the Northern Sea Route should number 17 units by 2030 and 22 units by 2035. That number of icebreakers is needed to ensure cargo traffic of 150 and 220 million tonnes respectively.
Under the contract with FSUE Atomflot, Baltiysky Zavod is currently building two icebreakers of Project 22220 (Yakutia and Chukotka). The lead icebreaker in the series, Arktika, and two serial icebreakers, Sibir and Ural, have already been put into operation. Besides, Shipbuilding Complex “Zvezda” (Bolshoy Kamen, Primorsky Territory) is building a nuclear-powered icebreaker of Leader type.
The Northern Sea Route is a single transport system in the Russian Arctic sector. It stretches along the northern coasts of Russia across the seas of the Arctic Ocean (Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi seas). The route links the European ports of Russia with the mouths of navigable rivers in Siberia and the Far East. In August 2022, a plan for the development of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) until 2035 was approved. The plan includes over 150 activities with total financing nearing RUB 1.8 trillion.
According to the plan, the annual cargo traffic on the Northern Sea Route is to reach 80 million by 2024, 150 million tonnes by 2030, 220 million tonnes – by 2035.
