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Around 36 mn tons of cargo are planned to be delivered to Arctic regions in 2023

The North Sea Route cargo target for 2022 exceeded by 2.1 mn tons

18 January 2023

Aleksey Chekunkov, Minister of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, and Alexey Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom State Corporation, discussed measures aimed at developing the North Sea Route and increasing freight traffic. This was reported by The Arctic portal.

In 2022, 34.1 mn tons of cargo will be transported along the North Sea Route; in 2023, it is planned to deliver 36 mn tons of cargo to the Arctic and Far East regions. To achieve this, the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic, together with Rosatom, has concluded agreements aimed at securing prospective cargo traffic with the 8 largest shippers transporting cargo along the NSR. Similar agreements are planned to be signed with a number of other shippers—in particular, with companies implementing major mining projects in the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation.

There were discussions on the creation of a single maritime logistics operator, which would operate regular routes in the Arctic and Pacific Ocean basins at preferential rates. Rosatom State Corporation has confirmed its readiness to act as such an operator.

A bill on northern supply will be submitted to the State Duma by 1 March 2023. The new law will make the entire northern supply process reliable and transparent. There will be a division of responsibilities between federal, regional and municipal levels, priority will be given to life-supporting goods, a three-year planning cycle will be ensured and most work will be digitised. The concept of 'backbone infrastructure for northern supply' has been introduced, and federal support for its development has been envisaged.

The main mechanism for the northern supply chain will be regular coastal voyages. In 2023, vessels capable of calling at shallow Arctic Basin ports are to be engaged for coastal voyages. This will increase the number of voyages and expand the cargo range. The possibility of using river transport in the Ob-Irtysh and Ob basins for export shipments of coal, lumber and grain through the waters of the NSR is being considered.

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