The Northern Sea Route: What is it, history and prospects

The Northern Sea Route is a unique transport artery of the Russian Federation, which is the shortest route by sea from the European part of the country to the Far East. A large-scale development of the Russian northern route is underway until 2035 as part of the project's modernization plans. For more information about the Northern Sea Route, its history, and its potential, see the Izvestia article.

The Northern Sea Route: What is it, history and our days

The Northern Sea Route (Sevmorput; NSR) is Russia's national transportation artery in the Arctic. The NSR is a shipping corridor along the northern shores of the country, running through the Barents, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi and Bering Seas. The length leaves about 5.6 thousand km from the Kara Gate Strait (between Vaigach Island and the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago) to Providence Bay (in the Anadyr Bay of the Bering Sea).

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The key interest in the NSR is due to its length — it is almost 40% shorter than the traditional sea route between St. Petersburg and Vladivostok via the Suez Canal (14.2 km instead of 23.2 km), which significantly reduces travel time and fuel costs — travel time is reduced by 15-20 days (almost twice).

The beginning of the NSR was laid back in 1525, when Russia had no access to the Black or Baltic Seas. The exploration of the territories lasted a long time, new territories were discovered and the borders of Russia were clarified, and in the 20th century large-scale hydrographic studies began. In 1932, the Main Directorate of the Northern Sea Route was established at the level of the People's Commissariat.

During the Great Patriotic War, the NSR became one of the most important strategic transport arteries of the Soviet Union. After the war, a large—scale project began to restore the route and develop it - port facilities were modernized, the number of Arctic bases was increased, and conditions for wintering expeditions were improved. One of the main events of that time was the construction of nuclear-powered ships and the introduction of satellite communication and navigation systems.

On December 5, 1957, the icebreaker Lenin was launched, and on December 3, 1959, the act of commissioning the vessel was signed. In 1991, after the collapse of the USSR, the route was opened to international shipping.

In early 2013, a law came into force fixing the borders of the NSR. In the same year, the "Administration of the Northern Sea Route" appeared, whose tasks included: issuing permits for ships to sail in the waters of the NSR; monitoring and providing information on hydrometeorological, ice and navigation conditions; assistance in conducting search and rescue operations. In 2022, control and management of the route was transferred to the Main Directorate of the Northern Sea Route, operating as part of the Rosatom State Corporation.

Development plans and challenges until 2035

In 2022, the government approved a plan for the development of the Northern Sea Route for the period up to 2035. It has allocated more than 150 events, and the total amount of funding will amount to almost 1.8 trillion rubles. A meeting was also held in 2024, during which five main areas of the corridor's development were identified: cargo turnover; safety; shipbuilding; northern delivery and coastal navigation; icebreaking.

Within the framework of the plan, the following areas can be identified for the next decade:

— increasing cargo turnover to 150-190 million tons by 2030, and to 220-260 million tons by 2035.;

— launching of 46 units of the emergency rescue fleet and deployment of emergency rescue centers;

— Roscosmos is building up a group of meteorological and radar satellites;

— construction of 130 vessels by 2030-2031.

In addition, in 2024, Rosatom, together with interested federal executive authorities, formed a new federal project, the Development of the Great Northern Sea Route. Its goal is to create a single economic, transport and logistics space from the Russian ports of the Baltic Sea to Primorsky Krai. The result should be the expansion of the NSR with the inclusion of the ports of St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad in the route.

Modern indicators, fleet

In 2024, cargo traffic along the NSR amounted to about 37.9 million tons, which exceeded the record of 2023 by more than 1.6 million tons. According to Rosatom, there were also a record number of transit flights — 92. The number of transit cargoes exceeded 3 million tons, which is about 1.5 times more than in 2023. The demand for the NSR also continues to grow — in 2024, more than 1.3 thousand applications for passage through the water area were considered, all applications were approved. Previously, the maximum number of permits issued per calendar year was more than 1.2 thousand.

The fleet consists of:

— four universal nuclear icebreakers with a capacity of 81 thousand hp: Arctic, Siberia, Ural and Yakutia;

— two nuclear icebreakers with a capacity of 75,000 hp: Yamal, 50 Years of Victory;

— two icebreakers with a capacity of about 50 thousand hp: "Taimyr", "Vaigach";

— tugs "Pur", "Tambey", "Yuribey";

— the Sevmorput nuclear-powered lighter locomotive.

The main natural limitation for the project remains the harsh climatic conditions: even in summer, the temperature in the Laptev Sea area does not rise above 1 degree, which limits the navigation period. Year-round navigation requires an icebreaking fleet, which leads to significant costs and the need to build new vessels.

Another obstacle is the shallow depth on traditional routes. In order for large-tonnage vessels to pass through the NSR without hindrance, it is necessary to lay routes north of the New Siberian Islands.

There are also technical barriers: large-tonnage vessels of the Panamax and Suezmax classes require channels with a width of about 40-50 m, respectively. Existing icebreakers are capable of paving a 33-34 m wide path. The solution to this problem is associated with the commissioning of icebreakers of the 10510 Leader project, which is being built at the Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex. The work is expected to be completed in December 2027.