The Northern Sea Route is rapidly becoming an alternative to the existing intercontinental shipping routes between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through Suez and Panama Canals.
The interest for the Northern Sea Route has grown due to significant reduction of navigation period between ports of Europe and South-East Asia and absence of pirate threats.
The leading role to provide safe transit of the Arctic and other freezing seas still belongs to Russia. To successfully operate in the Arctic Russia developed atomic icebreaking fleet which represents the key element of the Northern Sea Route infrastructure.
According to Ivan Kamenskikh, First Deputy Director General and Director of the Nuclear Weapons Complex Directorate, the growth of a volume of shipments via the Northern Sea Route is observed and by 2018 there might be a shortage in capacities of the existing icebreaker fleet to solve all tasks of Russia in the Arctic.
Therefore, Russia is committed to build three new icebreakers in order to enable commercial traffic along the Northern Sea Route during the whole year. The icebreaker detailed design was developed by CDB Aisberg in 2009. The new icebreakers will be operated by Rosatomflot, and financed by Russian Government.
The shipbuilding contract worth $1.16 billion was assigned to Baltic Shipyard, a subsidiary of United Shipbuilding, which started the construction on November 1th by cutting the first steel for the nuclear icebreaker.
Funding for the second icebreaker will likely be allocated in 2013, according to a statement that General Director of Rosatom, Sergey Kiriyenko gave to Arctic-info.
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World Maritime News Staff, November 16, 2012;