Carrying a maximum of 38,000 tons of oil, the 245-meter-long tanker Shturman Skuratov undertakes the inaugural transit shipment of the year along the Northern Sea Route.
As explained, despite extensive areas of sea ice, the tanker navigates independently without the aid of icebreakers.
According to ship tracking services, on June 21st, the oil tanker successfully navigated through the Vilkitsky Strait, which is known for its icy waters separating the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea.
This marks the first transit shipment of its kind on the remote Northern Sea Route this year. In February, two heavy load carriers transited the route, but they were transporting industrial plant modules rather than hydrocarbons.
The Shturman Skuratov is transporting up to 38,000 tons of oil and is part of a fleet of six tankers serving the Novy Port oil field in the Yamal Peninsula. Typically, it shuttles between the Novy Port terminal in the Ob Bay and a floating oil terminal in Murmansk.
Despite the approaching summer, significant sea ice persists along the Russian Arctic coast. Ice maps from the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute indicate that the tanker will encounter thick ice for much of its voyage. While some areas of the Eastern Laptev Sea have open waters, the Vilkitsky Strait and the waters south of the New Siberian Islands still have fast ice. Almost the entire East Siberian Sea remains ice-covered.
Despite these challenging sea ice conditions, the Shturman Skuratov is sailing without the assistance of icebreakers. According to the Northern Sea Route Administration, the tanker has been authorized to sail independently on the route from June 1, 2024, to January 31, 2025.
The ship’s destination is Kozmina, a port on the Russian Pacific coast, where it is scheduled to arrive on July 11th.
