Ice melting in the Arctic can only slightly extend the NSR navigation window - opinion
At least 13 units are to be in operation on the NSR by 2030
Ice melting in the Arctic can only slightly extend the Northern Sea Route (NSR) navigation window. Therefore, year-round navigation on the route is impossible without a powerful fleet of icebreakers, Maksim Kulinko, Deputy Director of Rosatom’s NSR Directorate, said at the Federation Council meeting.
“Climate assessment confirm the melting of ice. Multi-year ice is turning into seasonal ice. However, the reduction of the ice-covered area is not that great in winter. So, ice melting can only slightly extend the navigation window. We believe that year-round navigation on the NSR is impossible without a ‘strong fist’ of icebreakers,” explained Maksim Kulinko.
According to him, the new federal project “Yea-round Northern Sea Route” foresees the increase of the NSR cargo traffic to 150 million tonnes by 2030. The key task of the new project is to ensure safe year-round navigation on the Northern Sea Route, first of all in the eastward direction.
In this respect, large-scale work on construction of new icebreakers is underway. At least 13 units are to be in operation by 2030.
“A decision has been made on construction of two new icebreakers. In this part we would even ask for a support (from the Federation Council — Ed.). We do not ask for subsidies from the federal budget but we would like to ask for consideration of long-term loans for construction of those new icebreakers to be included in the recommendations. Of course, we would like to count on the annual rate not exceeding 2% which, in the future, will allow for a more efficient operation of icebreakers in the interest of large consignors,” said Maksim Kulinko.
