As of 15 November 2019, cargo traffic on the Northern Sea Route (NSR) exceeded 26 million tonnes versus 15.9 million tonnes carried within Northern Sea Route waters over similar period of 2018, says Northern Sea Route Directorate of State Corporation “Rosatom”.
According to the charter of the federal project “Northern Sea Route” this figure is to be achieved by the end of 2019.
The cargo flow growth was primarily driven by the Yamal LNG project based on hydrocarbon resources of the South-Tambeyskoye gas condensate field and by increased shipments of crude oil from the Novoportovskoye field via the Arctic Gate terminal. NSR transit grew by over 205,000 tonnes, which is a 29.5% growth versus the same period of 2018.
In 2018, cargo turnover on the Northern Sea Route exceeded 20 million tonnes. The record achieved in soviet times, 6.7 million tonnes transported in 1987, was for the first time broken in 2016 with transportation of 7.5 million tonnes.
The Northern Sea Route project is being managed by State Corporation “Rosatom”. According to the federal law signed in 2018, Rosatom is in charge of the NSR development and functioning. The NSR management is based on ‘two-key’ principle with the Ministry of Transport responsible for regulatory issues and Rosatom – for commercial and economic functions of the Northern Sea Route.
The purpose of the federal project “Northern Sea Route” is the NSR development to increase its cargo turnover to 80 million tonnes by 2024. It is included into the comprehensive plan for upgrading and expanding core infrastructure till 2024 developed in pursuance of the Presidential Order dated 7 May 2018 (No 204) “On national objectives and strategic tasks of the Russian Federation development till 2024”.
The cargo flow data are provided by the NSR Administration subordinate to the Federal Marine and River Transport Agency of RF Transport Ministry.