On August 20, a motor ship named 'Northern Project' embarked from the Arkhangelsk Seaport on its second subsidised sabotage journey of the year. It follows an extended route with stops at the ports of Pevek, Primorsky Krai, and Magadan, utilising discounted sea transportation fares. The journey is a part of the 'Development of the Northern Sea Route' federal project, itself an element of the larger Comprehensive Plan for Modernization and Expansion of Mainline Infrastructure.

Sending out the ship with a discounted fare became feasible after the Russian government expanded the parameters of the programme for subsidising transportation along the Northern Sea Route this summer. Thanks to this, vessels can now be chartered for subsidised transportation. The Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic allocates subsidies to offset income losses from discounted fares.

Three cabotage voyages are scheduled for this year in total. The "Sevmorput" container ship has completed a subsidised sabotage journey along the route from St. Petersburg to Murmansk, with stops at Vostochny and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. "Sevmorput" will take another journey along the route St. Petersburg – Vostochny – Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky – back to St. Petersburg (from 10 October to 3 December).