Russia will build up the Northern Sea Route’s capacity to 80 million tonnes by 2024 and launch regular container services with the one between Vladivostok and St Petersburg to be the pilot project, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the plenary session of the 2021 Eastern Economic Forum.
According to the transcript available on the official website of Kremlin, the President emphasized the prospects of the Northern Sea Route.
“We will be developing the potential of the Far East as a critical hub of global transport corridors based on a modern materials and technology base with account taken for the most stringent environmental standards, including increasing the Northern Sea Route’s capacities. I would like to note that over the past 10 years, the volume of cargo transport along this route has increased by an order of magnitude. I think I have my numbers right; sometime in 1986 a little over 7 million tonnes were shipped, last year it was 33 million tonnes, and by 2024, this figure should be 80 million tonnes. I am positive that these are not the final figures”, said Vladimir Putin.
Vladimir Putin looks into opening the first regular container service between Vladivostok and St Petersburg in 2022.
“A proposal was made to launch a container shipping line along the Northern Sea Route on a regular year-round basis. I have already expressed my opinion there, and I will go over several things here as well: it is necessary to carefully, but without delay, assess the prospects for this transport corridor. This is vital, and we must definitely do this; and we will do it, but we need to work through the technical part. We need to develop the port infrastructure, ensure security, and so on. But it undoubtedly holds the future for global shipments from Asia to Europe and back. It is important to consider the possibility of opening the first regular service for carrying goods, including containers, between Vladivostok and St Petersburg as early as next year in order to, as they say, break in the route and create a freight shipping base”, emphasized the President.