| Thin ice opens up more ships |
|
|
 Ice thickness and distribution along the North Sjövägen has declined steadily over the past 50 years (click to enlarge). Video: Jonas Askergren. Source: New York Times.
When the Arctic ice is becoming thinner starts for the first time be practical to send merchant ships along the route north of Russia to Asia.
Increasingly thin ice in the Arctic means that northern sea route past
Norway, Russia and the Bering Strait is now commercially navigable.
2011 was a record. The fairway was open throughout the 141 days.
It's opened up a lot, in August it was in principle open water. But you need to get lucky with the winds, said Jan Sonesson, shipping manager at Stena Bulk. Stena Bulk has advanced plans to use the fairway. We have already applied for a license to drive one or more ships through the Northeast Passage this summer. Total drove more than 34 ships through the entire route between 29 July and late November last year. All passage requires permission from Russian authorities, and assistance from isbrytarflottan. You can pay for icebreaker cards, but it is possible to serve two weeks in select North By sea and there is a huge saving, says Jan Sonesson. An example is the exploration vessel Polarcus Alima as September went from Rotterdam to New Caledonia via the Northern Sjovagen. According to the owners saved the 400 mil and 1.4 million in fuel compared to the Panama Canal. How much state and icebreakers cards cost the company would not reveal. The Russian authorities may also require that ships that are passed should be properly ice-strengthened to follow icebreakers, says Tomas Arnell on the Maritime Administration. Apart from stormy seas, ice shelves and narrow channels is the major obstacle the lack of infrastructure. To make North Sjovagen a regular route, massive new construction of ports and convoys. Russia is planning six new giant icebreakers, three nuclear-powered and three with conventional engines. The first one is not ready until at least 2015th Russia also intends to build a sjoraddningsbas in Amderma the Kara Sea, a stretch of coastline is largely uninhabited today. Another problem is the climate change, which made the road passable. Russian scientists warn that the short term can lead to more icebergs and more powerful storms. There are also major environmental risks of shipping including oil through the sensitive area. Northern Sjövägen opened to non-Russian cargo ship first 1991st according to the news service Barents Observer Russian authorities believe that freight carriage along the trail now will increase to 64 million tonnes annually by 2020. Continuing the favorable traffic will increase significantly, and traffic will start going our way back from Asia as well, says Jan Sonesson. |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
