Science, engineers, and business will present the market with fundamentally new solutions in the quest for competitiveness
The next technological leap in commercial Arctic shipping will enable the sector to achieve in 5-10 years the same progress that previously required 25 years, Sergey Frank, Chairman of the Council of the Northern Sea Route Shipping Participants, said during the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF 2025).
There has been rapid developments in the design of ice-class vessels and in Arctic shipping over the past 25 years. Russian industrial and shipping companies have implemented unique projects in the Russian Arctic, such as Varandey, Prirazlomnoye, Novy Port, LNG projects on Yamal peninsula and Norilsk Nickel logistics projects, among others, Sergey Frank said.
Since the early 2000s, a whole generation of high ice-class vessels has emerged, which incorporated technological solutions that were nothing short of revolutionary for the shipping market.
A vast empirical database on the current capabilities of shipping in the Arctic has been accumulated throughout these years, thanks largely to Russian companies Rosatom, Novatek, Sovcomflot.
Sergey Frank estimates that a similar technological leap will occur within the next 5 to 10 years.
"As we see today, the pace of humanity's technological progress is very high. Both in Russia and globally, we are now seeing a real technical and technological boom primarily associated with large-scale digitalization and integration of AI into all business processes. The perpetual race for perfection and competitive advantage will continue to drive progress. I am confident that circa 2028-2035 we will witness the emergence of even more advanced and more efficient technological solutions for the commercial fleet, especially for Arctic-class vessels," the IAA PortNews correspondent quoted Sergey Frank as saying.
Mr. Frank noted that the capabilities of the Russian icebreaker fleet in the Arctic have significantly advanced over the past 20 years.
"The first generation of Arctic commercial vessels from the 2000s were built for operating in conditions where icebreaker support was in very short supply. Since then, conditions have changed, as Russia has developed a stable icebreaking and transportation infrastructure and the traffic capacity of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) has significantly increased. New vessel designs for the commercial shipping in the Arctic will reflect these changes. We will see unique technological solutions when it comes to new hull forms, propulsion systems, ship power plants, and further automation of vessel controls."
Furthermore, Sergey Frank did not rule out the use of nuclear propulsion plants (NPPs) for the new Arctic vessel designs. Given the extensive positive experience in developing new generations of nuclear-powered icebreakers, such applications seem quite probable, especially within transport systems such as the NSR that require vessels capable of operating independently for longer periods.
In conclusion, Sergey Frank has stressed another important consideration.
"We sometimes hear that in some countries, some scientists, marine engineers and naval architects have now isolated themselves from technical innovations on the NSR, and this will become an insurmountable barrier for further progress. But this is a misconception. Technological progress cannot be stopped. Today, we are witnessing the formation of new partnerships between engineers, scientists, shipping companies and shipbuilders from across different countries who are interested in finding effective solutions," he said.