The first voyage is to begin in late June, the second – in late September
FSUE Atomflot (a company of Rosatom) has developed proposals on optimal periods for the two subsidized coastwise voyages of nuclear-powered container carrier Sevmorput between the port of Saint-Petersburg and the ports of the Far East in summer-autumn navigation of 2023. The first voyage is planned to begin in late June, the second – in late September, says Atomflot.
When speaking at the offsite meeting dedicated to the social and economic development of the Far East in 2022 and priorities for 2023, held in January 2023, Gajimagomed Guseinov said that the number of subsidized voyages on the Northern Sea Route (NSR) is to be increased to four to ensure the implementation of the Northern Delivery programme. Smaller ships are to be deployed for calls at shallow ports.
Subsidizing of coastal shipping is foreseen by the Northern Sea Route Development project under the Comprehensive Plan for Modernization and Expansion of Core Infrastructure (CPMI). In 2022, FSUE Atomflot was announced the winner of the competition to select a company for subsidized coastwise cargo transportation. Two round voyages between the ports of Russia’s European and the Far East were made in 2022. The loading for the first voyage to the Far East was 10% and it reached 90% for the second one while the back loading was as high as 46%.
The nuclear-powered container ship “Sevmorput” (named after the Northern Sea Route) was built at Kerch based Zaliv Shipyard in 1988. The Sevmorput is intended for transportation of cargo to the remote northern areas. The ship can break through continuous field ice of up to 1 meter thick at a speed of about two knots and carry some 36,000 tonnes of cargo.
The Northern Sea Route is a single transport system in the Russian Arctic sector. It stretches along the northern coasts of Russia across the seas of the Arctic Ocean (Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi seas). The route links the European ports of Russia with the mouths of navigable rivers in Siberia and the Far East. In August 2022, a plan for the development of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) until 2035 was approved. The plan includes over 150 activities with total financing nearing RUB 1.8 trillion. According to the plan, the annual cargo traffic on the Northern Sea Route is to reach 80 million by 2024, 150 million tonnes by 2030, 220 million tonnes – by 2035.
In 2022, cargo traffic on the Northern Sea Route totaled 34.034 million tonnes with the target of the federal project “Development of the Northern Sea Route” exceeded by 2 million tonnes.