At least six operations are planned to lead Russian tankers through the ice-bound Northern Shipping Route next summer, the captain of the Rossiya nuclear-powered icebreaker said on Tuesday.
The route from Murmansk to the Bering Strait and then on to Southeast Asia slices 5,000 nautical miles and 15-20 days off each journey, currently carried out on the 12,000 nautical mile southern route, Oleg Shchapin said.
Rosatomflot, operator of Russian icebreakers as part of the state nuclear corporation Rosatom, confirmed the information, adding that at least one tanker would go to China.
The stretch from Karskiye Vorota to the Bering Strait is covered with ice and two icebreakers will be needed to cut out a more than 40-meter-wide lane for a tanker.
The northern seaway comprises the eastern part of the Barents Sea, the Petchora Sea, the Kara Sea, the Laptev Sea and the Eastern Siberian Sea. In winter the thickness of the ice there varies from 1.2 to 2 meters (4 to 6.5 feet).
The Rossiya was the first icebreaker to start clearing the way for Russian tankers this summer, opening the exciting prospect of intercontinental transit navigation to Asia along northern passage routes.
It set out from Murmansk on July 5 with the Taymyr nuclear-powered icebreaker, on July 13 it was joined at Cape Zhelaniya by two tankers, the Indiga and the Varzuga, each carrying 15,000 tons of oil as part of the Northern Delivery Operation, run by the federal government every year.
“The Sannikov Strait was blocked by ice so we had to move north of the Novosibirsk Islands and passed Pevek,” Shchapin said, adding that one tanker went to Pevek and the other to Providence Bay and Cape Semyon Dezhnev – a total of 3,150 nautical miles.
On August 14-26, the SCF Baltica– an aframax class tanker with a displacement of up to 120,000 tons (beam 42 meters, draft 16 meters) – accomplished its first journey along the northern passage route.
In the Laptev Sea, the Rossiya, followed by the Taymyr, had to cut a lane through very thick ice stretching for over 90 miles. Then the ships passed through the Sannikov Strait (“no one dared do that before us”) and brought the tanker to a place near the Wrangle Island from where it continued its journey to Southeast Asia unaided.
The SCF Baltica delivered 70,000 tons of hydrocarbons from Russia’s Novatek company to China.
Technically, the operation could have been accomplished in 2007, a year that saw Arctic sea ice melt to cover the smallest area on record, but everything fell into place only in 2010.
“It was a bold experiment: Now better ice maps will be made and future operations will be easier.”
The Rossiya was also the first icebreaker to take a group of foreign tourists to the North Pole in 1990.
However, a more modern icebreaker, 50 Let Pobedy, or 50 Years of Victory (built in 2007), seems to be a better cruise option: It contains an accommodation deck customized for tourists.
Shchapin was a member of the state acceptance commission that gave the 50 Let a clean bill of health for operation.
“It is an excellent ship,” he said, adding that Russia needs more nuclear-powered icebreakers amid rising demand for their services.
On board Icebreaker Rossiya in the Arctic Ocean, October 19 (RIA Novosti, by Alexander Stelliferovsky)
The route from Murmansk to the Bering Strait and then on to Southeast Asia slices 5,000 nautical miles and 15-20 days off each journey, currently carried out on the 12,000 nautical mile southern route, Oleg Shchapin said.
Rosatomflot, operator of Russian icebreakers as part of the state nuclear corporation Rosatom, confirmed the information, adding that at least one tanker would go to China.
The stretch from Karskiye Vorota to the Bering Strait is covered with ice and two icebreakers will be needed to cut out a more than 40-meter-wide lane for a tanker.
The northern seaway comprises the eastern part of the Barents Sea, the Petchora Sea, the Kara Sea, the Laptev Sea and the Eastern Siberian Sea. In winter the thickness of the ice there varies from 1.2 to 2 meters (4 to 6.5 feet).
The Rossiya was the first icebreaker to start clearing the way for Russian tankers this summer, opening the exciting prospect of intercontinental transit navigation to Asia along northern passage routes.
It set out from Murmansk on July 5 with the Taymyr nuclear-powered icebreaker, on July 13 it was joined at Cape Zhelaniya by two tankers, the Indiga and the Varzuga, each carrying 15,000 tons of oil as part of the Northern Delivery Operation, run by the federal government every year.
“The Sannikov Strait was blocked by ice so we had to move north of the Novosibirsk Islands and passed Pevek,” Shchapin said, adding that one tanker went to Pevek and the other to Providence Bay and Cape Semyon Dezhnev – a total of 3,150 nautical miles.
On August 14-26, the SCF Baltica– an aframax class tanker with a displacement of up to 120,000 tons (beam 42 meters, draft 16 meters) – accomplished its first journey along the northern passage route.
In the Laptev Sea, the Rossiya, followed by the Taymyr, had to cut a lane through very thick ice stretching for over 90 miles. Then the ships passed through the Sannikov Strait (“no one dared do that before us”) and brought the tanker to a place near the Wrangle Island from where it continued its journey to Southeast Asia unaided.
The SCF Baltica delivered 70,000 tons of hydrocarbons from Russia’s Novatek company to China.
Technically, the operation could have been accomplished in 2007, a year that saw Arctic sea ice melt to cover the smallest area on record, but everything fell into place only in 2010.
“It was a bold experiment: Now better ice maps will be made and future operations will be easier.”
The Rossiya was also the first icebreaker to take a group of foreign tourists to the North Pole in 1990.
However, a more modern icebreaker, 50 Let Pobedy, or 50 Years of Victory (built in 2007), seems to be a better cruise option: It contains an accommodation deck customized for tourists.
Shchapin was a member of the state acceptance commission that gave the 50 Let a clean bill of health for operation.
“It is an excellent ship,” he said, adding that Russia needs more nuclear-powered icebreakers amid rising demand for their services.
On board Icebreaker Rossiya in the Arctic Ocean, October 19 (RIA Novosti, by Alexander Stelliferovsky)