Tag: Northern Sea Route

For the first time, Russian authorities have opened the NSR for a Norwegian tanker For the first time, Russian authorities have opened the Northern Sea Route for a Norwegian tanker, according to the Norwegian Ship Owners' Association.The Norwegian LNG-tanker "Ribera del Duerea Knutsen", which belongs to Knutsen OAS Shipping, a Norwegian shipping company in Haugesund, has been granted permission from Russia to sail the shortcut to Asia.The Northern Sea Route cuts the time it takes to get to Asia in half, and will both lower costs and reduce the threat from Somali pirates. The route extends from the Barents Sea, along Siberia to the Bering Strait, and then on to Japan or other Asian countries.For a tanker the journey will take approximately two weeks, about half the time it takes to travel through the Suez Canal. As a result of the icy conditions in the Arctic, the route can normally only be used from June to October, and even then ships have to be led by icebreakers.The Norwegian tanker is the only liquid natural gas tanker in the world that qualifies to travel through such waters. The Northern Sea Route opened for commercial shipping in 1991, but the first merchant ...

Record number for Northern Sea Route This year's season on the Northern Sea Route was special in many ways. Not only was the route accessible about one month longer than usual, but is also had the highest number ever of vessels in transit from Murmansk to another country.According to operator of the nuclear icebreaker fleet Rosatomflot, 34 vessels have sailed the whole Northern Sea Route this year. The total cargo transported on the route is 820 000 tons. By comparison, in 2010 only four vessels used the route for transit to another country, and the total amount of cargo was 111 000 tons, Rosatomflot reports, according to RIA Novosti.15 of the 34 vessels transported liquid cargo (682 000 tons), three carried bulk (110 000 tons), four refrigerator ships transported salmon (27 500), two vessels transported general cargo and ten vessels sailed in ballast.2011 has been a years of records on the Northern Sea Route. The 162 000 dwt "Vladimir Tikhonov" became the first super tanker to sail the route, while the 75 600 dwt "Sanko Odyssey" became the largest ever bulk carrier to sail the NSR.The tanker Belgium owned "Perseverance" opened the sailing season on June 29, and later became ...

Polar shipping movements increase As Polar shipping movements increase, Castrol Marine suggests that greater attention should be paid to the environmental credentials of lubricants used on board in applications where there is a risk of leakages and discharges.Growing demand for effective shipping routes and cruises to previously inaccessible destinations has led vessels into increasingly sensitive marine areas.Exemplary is the increasing amount of seaborne traffic beginning to move along the Siberian coast. There are also hopes of opening up more of the North West Passage above Canada.The Northern Sea Route voyage is one-third of the distance of traditional routes through the Suez Canal, bringing with it lower fuel costs. Nordic Barents operator Nordic Bulk Carriers was recently reported as claiming that an Arctic voyage to Asia would save the company $180,000 in fuel costs over the equivalent journey via the Suez Canal.Norilsk Nickel, the world's largest nickel producer, carried ore to China and South Korea by the eastern part of the Arctic route last year. Two tankers owned by Murmansk Shipping loaded with petroleum recently moved through the ice-thinned passage from Murmansk to Chukotka in the Russian Far East. Again, Sovcomflot has also taken one of its 70,000dwt tankers from Russia ...

It is expected to reach 3 million tons - record volume since the late 1980's This year the cargo transportation of the Northern Sea Route (NSR), a shipping lane from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean along the Russian Arctic coast, is expected to reach 3 million tons, which is a record volume since the late 1980's, Andrei Smirnov, an official with the parent navigation company Rosatomflot said.In the late 1980's the cargo transportation volume on NSR amounted to 7 million tons. However, in the 1990's it declined almost five times down to 1.5 billion tons. Later the growth resumed and in 2010 the volume of cargo transportation reached 2.3 billion tons. The leap is explained by a number of factors, Smirnov says."Though the Northern sea route was open for foreign ships navigation 20 years ago, only in 2009 foreign ship-owners got interested in this route. Three foreign ships used the route and last year transit along the route already reached 100,000 tons. This year a Russian icebreaker has convoyed the Affinity tanker. It is likely that two-three more ships will sail the NSR this year. Many foreign shipping companies are interested in the transportation of cargos to Asia ...

Global warming is shrinking the Arctic ice pack, opening new sea lanes Rounding the northernmost tip of Russia in his oceangoing tugboat this summer, Capt. Vladimir V. Bozanov saw plenty of walruses, some pods of beluga whales and in the distance a few icebergs.One thing Captain Bozanov did not encounter while towing an industrial barge 2,300 miles across the Arctic Ocean was solid ice blocking his path anywhere along the route. Ten years ago, he said, an ice-free passage, even at the peak of summer, was exceptionally rare.But environmental scientists say there is now no doubt that global warming is shrinking the Arctic ice pack, opening new sea lanes and making the few previously navigable routes near shore accessible more months of the year. And whatever the grim environmental repercussions of greenhouse gas, companies in Russia and other countries around the Arctic Ocean are mining that dark cloud's silver lining by finding new opportunities for commerce and trade.Oil companies might be the most likely beneficiaries, as the receding polar ice cap opens more of the sea floor to exploration. The oil giant Exxon Mobil recently signed a sweeping deal to drill in the Russian sector of the Arctic Ocean. But ...

All ships operating along the route are ice-classed and fitted with equipment Two Neste-operated oil tankers successfully traversed the Northern Sea Route (NSR) between Murmansk and the Pacific Ocean in August and September this year.The first Neste tanker to transit the NSR was the 'Stena Poseidon', which carried a cargo to South Korea. She was followed by the 'Palva', which delivered a cargo to China.Neste said that its extensive maritime expertise, decades of experience in navigating in ice-covered waters and fleet of ice-strengthened ships, one of the largest in the world, give the company a clear edge in shipping along this route."Neste Oil has a long history of taking on the challenges of the Northeast Passage," says Niko Ristikankare, vice president of the company's shipping & terminals unit."The 'Uikku' was the first Western commercial vessel to traverse the route back in 1997. Thanks to our Arctic expertise and our modern fleet, we are excellently placed to handle commercial operations along the Northeast Passage."The Russian authorities require that all ships operating along the route are ice-classed and fitted with additional equipment, such as radios approved for use in Arctic areas and a spare propeller blade.Bunkers and provisions sufficient for 30 days ...

Northern Sea Route is seen as a way to cut voyage times and costs Danish shipping company Nordic Bulk Carriers said it has saved a third of the cost and nearly half the time in shipping goods to China by taking advantage of receding Arctic ice to sail north of Russia instead of via the Suez Canal.As the climate warms up and ice melts, many shipping companies are eyeing the Northern Sea Route as a way to cut voyage times and costs in the future."We see great potential in this," Nordic Bulk Carriers director Christian Bonfils told Reuters. "When we save 22 days on transportation, it is very, very good business for us."The company plans to make four to five such trips next summer, he said.On Aug. 30, its Sanko Odyssey, the world's biggest ice-classed bulk carrier, set out from the Russian port of Murmansk along the Northern Sea Route to arrive in China on Sept. 23 after 23 days at sea, which according to Bonfils is 22 days less than sailing through the Suez Canal.It was the second voyage by a commercial bulk carrier through the icy sea lane.Depending on the particular ports of a route, the distance to ...

This year has been a record as well as an ice breaker in the Russian Arctic This year has been a record as well as an ice breaker in the Russian Arctic. On departing Murmansk at the end of June with a cargo of 70,000 tonnes of condensate for the eastbound voyage to China, the Panamax product tanker Perseverance became the earliest commercial vessel in the season to make a transit of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) along Russia's Arctic coast.Several weeks later, in late July, STI Heritage, a tanker similar to Perseverance, made the fastest ever NSR passage by a cargo ship, sailing that part of her overall voyage from Murmansk to Map Ta Phut in Thailand in just eight days. She was carrying 61,000 tonnes of condensate.On 20 August 2011 another tanker departed Murmansk eastbound with a cargo of condensate en route to another record. Carrying 120,000 tonnes of the bulk liquid, Vladimir Tikhonov became the first Suezmax tanker and the largest commercial ship to sail the route.The Vladimir Tikhonov voyage was a much slower one than the two earlier tanker transits as it was used to study the potential for transporting large consignments of Arctic oil and ...

Northern Sea Route connects the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean via the Russian arctic coast A tanker managed by Scorpio Ship Management s.a.m. recently completed a voyage from Vitino, Russia to Map Ta Phut, Thailand, via the Northern Sea Route (NSR) -- with the assistance of nuclear powered icebreakers. This is the first such voyage for a vessel managed by SSM.The NSR, which connects the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean via the Russian arctic coast, is only open occasionally for international commercial shipping and is navigable with the assistance of icebreakers from mid-summer to mid-autumn. In addition to gaining considerable savings in distance and fuel, by using the NSRP ships avoid both Suez Canal tolls and the risks of piracy in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean region.The Scorpio-managed ship, STI Heritage is a 73,956 dwt ice class 1A Panamax tanker. It operates in the Scorpio Panamax Tanker Pool and is registered in the Marshall Islands and ABS classed. Owned by Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE: STNG), it is on time charter to Gard Shipping AS. She performed the NSR voyage under a charter to Novatek Gas and Power.The planning for the voyage included a comprehensive risk assessment of the ...

Satellite measurements confirme another year of below-average ice cover Satellite measurements have confirmed another year of below-average ice cover in the Arctic resulting in two major shipping routes have opened in the Arctic Ocean.In 2008 satellites saw that the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea Route were open simultaneously for the first time since satellite measurements began in the 1970s - and now it has happened again.While the Northern Sea Route above Russia (also known as the Northeast Passage) has been open to shipping traffic since mid-August, recent satellite data show that the most direct course in the Northwest Passage now appears to be navigable as well.Located in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the Northwest Passage can be a short cut for shipping between Europe and Asia - but with the opening of the sea route comes the potential for both sovereignty claims and marine species migration across the Arctic Ocean.In 2007, Arctic sea ice hit a record low since satellite measurements began nearly 30 years before. That same year, the historically impassable Northwest Passage opened for the first time.Unusual weather contributed to 2007's record ice loss: skies opened over the central Arctic Ocean and wind patterns pushed warm air into ...