The volume of cargo carried along the Northern Sea Route in 2011 could exceed last year's figures, reaching some 3 million tons, Rosatomflot told Interfax agency.
"We see, a very slow but steady growth in traffic volumes along the Northern Sea Route. In 2010, it was at 2.3 million tons, but this year we expect it to be around to 3 million tons," Interfax quoted deputy head of Rosatomflot Andrei Smirnov as saying.
However, the volume record high was in the 1980s. Then in the 1990s cargo traffic on the shipping lane slumped by nearly fivefold, Mr. Smirnov said.
The Northern Sea Route is a shortcut between the European part of Russia and the Far East. The entire shipping lane lies in Arctic waters and parts are free of ice for only two months a year.