Northern Sea Route Becomes Ever More Prominent

Based on the preferences of dry-bulk carriers struggling on the market to offer the fastest services to their clients, navigating through the Arctic waters by taking the Northern Sea Route has become ever more prominent over the recent period.

Namely, shipping companies have found their way through a route that runs along the Russian coast from the island archipelago of Novaya Zemlya in the west to the Bering Strait in the east, thus reducing their voyage for almost 40 percent in comparison to the one which includes passing through the Panama or Suez canals, the Maritime Bulletin informed.

This is confirmed by the fact that a Danish company, Nordic Bulk Carriers A/S plans to transport about six to eight 70,000 metric-ton shipments of iron ore to China from the Russian port of Murmansk as of July. According to Nordic Bulk Carriers’ director Christian Bonfils, with this move Nordic Bulk Carriers will set a record in the usage of the route in terms of volumes transported by year-end.

“Using the so-called Northern Sea Route for the journey instead of the canal saves 1,000 tons of fuel, or $650,000,” the Maritime Bulleting cited Bonfils as saying.

However, things are not that simple because the adventurous shortcut between Europe and East Asia entails other challenges. Russia, exercising the legal jurisdiction over the route, dictates the rules of the seven-day passage which include allowing passage only to 1A-class vessels, mandatory ice-breaker escorts and very high fees for their services. In addition, taking into consideration the harsh weather conditions which reduce the navigation to only four months during the summer time, the hire rate is four times more expensive.

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World Maritime News Staff, June 14, 2012;