When the future history of the Arctic will be written, 2010 will be marked off as the breakthrough year for commercial shipping along the Northern Sea Route.
The ice is melting and the shipping is entering. The Northern Sea Route will be the new sea highway between Europe and Asia.
The first one to sail the entire Northern Sea Route, or the Northeast Passage as it was named those days, was the Finnish-Swedish explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskioeld in 1878-79. He spent 15 months on the route with his vessel “Vega”. This August, the Norwegian explorer Børge Ousland sailed the same route with his little trimaran. He spent some few weeks and reported that they hardly could see any ice.
But the strongest interest for the Northern Sea Route is no longer among Arctic explorers. The Russian and international shipping industry see the ongoing climate changes and the retreating of the summer ice-cap in the Arctic as a new opportunity. The distance from Europe to Asia is much shorter when sailing north instead of using the Suez channel or sail around Africa. Shorter sailing route save time and save fuel. In other words; save money. Also, the Arctic is free of pirates.
During the 80-ties, the Soviet Union built up a strong fleet of nuclear powered icebreakers based in Murmansk. But, the planned increase in shipping along the north coast of Siberia never took off in Soviet times. The route from Dudinka to Murmansk was the most trafficked one. In post Soviet times, private companies have entered the western part of the Northern Sea Route. So do the oil and gas industry. The first foreign flag-vessel to sail part of the Northern Sea Route was the Finnish tanker “MT Uikku” in 1998.
Then, in 2009 two German vessels were the first foreign flag ships to sail the entire Northern Sea Route. The sailed with commercial cargo from South-Korea to the outlet of the Ob River, and thereafter to Murmansk. The vessels got worldwide attention.
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“2009 was the show-off year, 2010 is the breakthrough year and 2011 will be take-off year for commercial shipping along the Northern Sea Route.”
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But, when the future history of the Arctic will be written, 2010 will be marked off as the breakthrough year for commercial shipping along the Northern Sea Route. Not because the Arctic is crowded with vessels. Not because there are big money yet. But, because there are so many different shipping interests involved and because Russia and foreign shipping companies agrees on the basic principles for using the route.
The vessel “Baltica” was the first ever high-tonnage tanker to sail with petroleum products from Europe to Asia via the north. The 100,000 tons tanker made the Northern Sea Route faster than expected. Other tankers have also sailed from Murmansk to Russia’s northeastern corner with oil-products this summer. Some Sovcomflot tankers will sail from the Varandey oil-terminal in Nenets Autonomous Area and eastbound now in September.
When the bulk-carrier “MV Nordic Barents” sails from the Northern Norwegian harbor of Kirkenes next week loaded with iron-ore concentrate, also that vessel writes itself into the history book of the new Arctic. The vessel is heading for China and will then be the first ever foreign flag vessel to sail the entire Northern Sea Route in transit without entering any Russian harbor.
The “MV Nordic Barents” voyage over the top of the world is of course happening because the shipping companies involved want to save money. That is the nature of all private shipping companies. At the same time, the voyage is a result of the good Norwegian – Russian cooperation within the Barents Region. The Barents cooperation has served as a meeting point; call it a platform, for the actors involved. Rosatomflot, the operator of Russia’s nuclear powered icebreakers, has been active in meetings organized within the project Northern Maritime Corridor. This project connects Russian and Norwegian harbor interests.
Several of the regional players in the Barents cooperation participate. Among them are the Norwegian Barents Secretariat and Troms County. Good business deals, like commercial shipping along the Northern Sea Route with foreign vessels, would be harder to agree upon without the Barents regional cooperation.
2010 has proven that the Northern Sea Route is the new sea highway between Europe and Asia. As it looks now, this year has been the kick-off of what will increase even more next year.
In 2011 there will be far more voyages along the Northern Sea Route. Rosatomflot already says there are plans to escort 6 to 8 tankers next year. Companies involved in ore and metal transport to Asia from both Northern Norway and the Kola Peninsula are surely interested in boosting the number of voyages. They call this year’s voyages “test-cases.”
BarentsObserver whishes the cooperation between international and Russian shipping companies together with Russian authorities welcome. We do however again highlight the need for developing safety navigation systems for this remote part of the world. Transport, and especially transport of petroleum products, is risky. The increased use of nuclear powered icebreakers in the Arctic is another risk factor where the consequences of a radiation accident far exceed our imagination.
The commercial shipping industry has this year proven that the Northern Sea Route is no dream of the future. It is a reality and it can develop fast. The future history of the Arctic is now. For coastal states in the Arctic, in particular Norway and Russia, it is therefore just no time to wait with the highly needed speed in developing safety systems, joint emergency response teams and environmental monitoring. Not surprisingly, it is the Barents Cooperation that is the driving force regarding cross-border safety.
Barents Watch and Barents Rescue are two important tools. Development of common petroleum standards is another. It is for the authorities to team up with the private actors in the Arctic to develop more safety-at-sea regulations that are adapted to the consequences of global warming in the northern sea areas.
Thomas Nilsen
Editor
BarentsObserver.com
