Moscow A Russian natural gas tanker has completed an experimental round trip along the North Sea route – the first time the road across the North Pole has been forged at this time of year. The journey by the Christophe de Margerie tanker through the ice is the latest visual indicator of climate change in the delicate region.
The tanker, operated by the Sovcomflot shipping company, returned to the remote Russian gas terminal at Sabetta on 19 February and took Russia one step closer to its goal of doing year-round commercial navigation through the warming North Pole.
The LNG (liquefied natural gas) tanker left the Chinese port of Jiangsu on January 27 after delivering its cargo. It entered the Northern Sea Route a few days later near Cape Dezhnev, where Russia’s north coast crosses, where the Russian nuclear icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy (50 Years of Victory) met. Together, they completed the 2,500-kilometer journey through the ice in 11 days and 10 hours.
The vessel managed to complete the first leg of the journey from Russia to China without an icebreaker. Both trips broke records for winter navigation due to the changing climate in the Arctic, which was made possible by thin ice. By using the Northern Sea Route, learners in Russia and other countries can avoid a much longer southern journey through Europe, the Middle East and the whole of South Asia, saving millions of dollars.
The deepest ice that the ships encountered was about 5 feet thick. However, the vessels no longer built up ice on the route, and meteorologist and journalist Eric Holthaus calls it a clear indication of “an emergency in the climate”.
Last year in May, the Christophe de Margerie became the first large cargo vessel to complete an eastern departure from the Northern Sea Route, two months earlier in the year than the voyage had previously traveled.
Sovcomflot
“Due to the early North Sea Route (NSR) voyage completed by Christophe de Margerie in May 2020, as well as the current NSR voyage, shipping in the eastern part of the North Pole has virtually doubled,” Igor Tonkovidov, CEO of Sovcomflot, said earlier this month. He noted that the transit route along the segment of the NSR was usually closed by ice for decades from November to July.
“The Arctic is ours”
Novatek, the company that operates the LNG gas plant in Sabetta, plans to continue experimental voyages east along the Northern Sea Route, with the next one planned in the spring, the daily Russian business newspaper Kommersant quoted the company as saying.
European University in St. Petersburg
Last year, Russia moved nearly 33 million tons of cargo along the Northern Sea Route, including more than 18 million tons of LNG. Freight traffic along the NSR has grown almost fivefold in just the past five years.
“The route can handle much more than that,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Trutnev said at a government meeting last week. According to a decision issued by President Vladimir Putin, freight traffic along the NSR should increase to 80 million tons per year by 2024.
“One way the target can be achieved is by extending the period of Arctic navigation,” Trutnev said.
To help Russia realize its lucrative Arctic ambitions, it has renewed its unique civilian fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers. Last year Russia unveiled the navy’s new flagship, the Arctic, is the world’s largest and most powerful.
OLGA MALTSEVA / AFP / Getty
“Russia’s Arctic region attracts a lot of people interested in its resources,” St. Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko said during the launch ceremony. “But the Arctic is ours, and we have proven it.”
By the end of 2022, Russia plans to launch two more ships in the same range.
Environmentalists have expressed concern about the growing presence of nuclear power in the sensitive Arctic region, which already exists plagued by problems related to climate change.
According to some estimates, the Arctic owns oil and gas reserves equivalent to 412 billion barrels of oil, about 22% of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas.