Northern Sea Route
The Northern Sea Route (Russian: Се́верный морско́й путь, Severnyy morskoy put, shortened to Севморпуть, Sevmorput) is a shipping route officially defined by Russian legislation as lying east of Novaya Zemlya and specifically running along the Russian Arctic coast from the Kara Sea, along Siberia, to the Bering Strait. The entire route lies in Arctic waters and within Russia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Parts are free of ice for only two months per year. The overall route on Russia's side of the Arctic between North Cape and the Bering Strait has been called the Northeast Passage, analogous to the Northwest Passage on the Canada side.
While the Northeast Passage includes all the East Arctic seas and connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the Northern Sea Route does not include the Barents Sea, and it therefore does not reach the Atlantic.[1][2][3]
Melting Arctic ice caps are likely to increase traffic in and the commercial viability of the Northern Sea Route. One study, for instance, projects, "remarkable shifts in trade flows between Asia and Europe, diversion of trade within Europe, heavy shipping traffic in the Arctic and a substantial drop in Suez traffic. Projected shifts in trade also imply substantial pressure on an already threatened Arctic ecosystem."[4]
History
A Russian Federal state Institution “The Northern Sea Route Administration” was established in 2013 to organize navigation in the water area of the Northern sea route by issuing navigation permissions and contributing to support activities.[5]
Number of transits per flag state[6]
| Year | Total | Russia | Singapore | Finland | Norway | Germany | Spain | China | Greece | Hong Kong | Sweden | Netherlands | Portugal | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 41 | 26 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||||||
| 2012 | 46 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 15 | ||||||||
| 2013 | 71 | 46 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 18 | |||||||
| 2014 | 53 | 47 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||||
| 2015 | 18 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||
| 2016 | 19 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
See also
- Arctic shipping routes
- Arctic Bridge
- Arctic cooperation and politics
- Arctic policy of Russia
- David Melgueiro
- List of Russian explorers
- Northwest Passage
- Territorial claims in the Arctic
- Transpolar Sea Route
Further reading
- Østreng, Willy; Eger, Karl Magnus; Fløistad, Brit; Jørgensen-Dahl, Arnfinn; Lothe, Lars; Mejlænder-Larsen, Morten; Wergeland, Tor (2013). Shipping in Arctic Waters: A Comparison of the Northeast, Northwest and Trans Polar Passages. Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16790-4. ISBN 978-3642167898.
- Keupp (Ed.), Marcus M. (2015). The Northern Sea Route. SpringerGabler. ISBN 978-3-658-04080-2.
References
- ^ a b Brigham, L.; McCalla, R.; Cunningham, E.; Barr, W.; VanderZwaag, D.; Chircop, A.; Santos-Pedro, V.M.; MacDonald, R.; Harder, S.; Ellis, B.; Snyder, J.; Huntington, H.; Skjoldal, H.; Gold, M.; Williams, M.; Wojhan, T.; Williams, M.; Falkingham, J. (2009). Brigham, Lawson; Santos-Pedro, V.M.; Juurmaa, K. (eds.). Arctic marine shipping assessment (AMSA) (PDF). Norway: Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME), Arctic Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 1, 2014.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Østreng, Willy; Eger, Karl Magnus; Fløistad, Brit; Jørgensen-Dahl, Arnfinn; Lothe, Lars; Mejlænder-Larsen, Morten; Wergeland, Tor (2013). Shipping in Arctic Waters: A Comparison of the Northeast, Northwest and Trans Polar Passages. Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16790-4. ISBN 978-3642167898.
- ^ Buixadé Farré, Albert; Stephenson, Scott R.; Chen, Linling; Czub, Michael; Dai, Ying; Demchev, Denis; Efimov, Yaroslav; Graczyk, Piotr; Grythe, Henrik; Keil, Kathrin; Kivekäs, Niku; Kumar, Naresh; Liu, Nengye; Matelenok, Igor; Myksvoll, Mari; O'Leary, Derek; Olsen, Julia; Pavithran .A.P., Sachin; Petersen, Edward; Raspotnik, Andreas; Ryzhov, Ivan; Solski, Jan; Suo, Lingling; Troein, Caroline; Valeeva, Vilena; van Rijckevorsel, Jaap; Wighting, Jonathan (October 16, 2014). "Commercial Arctic shipping through the Northeast Passage: Routes, resources, governance, technology, and infrastructure" (PDF). Polar Geography. Taylor & Francis. doi:10.1080/1088937X.2014.965769. Archived from the original on December 5, 2015.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Bekkers, Eddy; Francois, Joseph F.; Rojas-Romagosa, Hugo (2016-12-01). "Melting Ice Caps and the Economic Impact of Opening the Northern Sea Route". The Economic Journal: n/a–n/a. doi:10.1111/ecoj.12460. ISSN 1468-0297.
- ^ Object of activity and functions of NSRA
- ^ Northern Sea Route Information Office - Transit Statistics
External links
- Rules of navigation in the water area of the Northern Sea Route Ministry of Transport of Russia, January 17, 2013
- International Northern Sea Route Programme
- Russian State Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic, The discovery and history of exploration of the Northern Sea Route
- Pictures - during NE passage
- Tanker Vladimir Tikhonov Completes Successful Northern Sea Route Transit in a Week
- Armstrong, Terence. The Northern Sea Route (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1952)
- Belov, M. I. Istoriia otkrytiia i osveniia Severnogo Morskogo Puti, 4 vols. (Leningrad, 1956–1969)
- Horensma, Piers. The Soviet Arctic (London: Routledge, 1991)
- McCannon, John. Red Arctic (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998)
- Konyshev, Valery & Sergunin, Alexander: Is Russia a revisionist military power in the Arctic? Defense & Security Analysis, September 2014.
- Konyshev, Valery & Sergunin, Alexander. Russia in search of its Arctic strategy: between hard and soft power? Polar Journal, April 2014.
- Konyshev, Valery & Sergunin, Alexander: Russia's Policies on the Territorial Disputes in the Arctic Journal of International Relations and Foreign Policy, March 2014, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 55–83.
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