Russia deployed the nuclear-powered cargo ship Sevmorput at the Northern Sea Route (NSR), to deliver containers to Vladivostok.
While this route is 3,000 nm longer than using the Suez Canal to reach Bangladesh, it aims to demonstrate the potential for unescorted, late-season navigation on the NSR.
More specifically, Sevmorput departed from the port of St. Petersburg, carrying equipment and materials for construction of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Bangladesh.
The voyage to the port of Vladivostok is expected to take 25 days, and will be challenging due to ice formation in the Arctic.
At present, an active process of ice formation is underway in the water area of the Northern Sea Route, but the technical characteristics of the vessel will allow it to pass the entire route without icebreaker assistance
explained Mustafa Kashka, General Director of FSUE Atomflot.
Russia now believes that opening the Northern Sea Route can offer strategic and economic importance as countries and shipping lines seek to find alternative routes to Asia and Europe.
