Navigation along the Northern Sea Route (NSR) could eventually be possible year-round until 2030, as the climate continues warming, the Head of the Russian State Hydrometeorology University Valery Mikheyev told.
Speaking to the Russian news agency TASS, during the forum ‘The Arctic: Present and Future Forum’, Mr. Mikheyev said that currently the Arctic is warming. He explained that according to forecast, by 2030 NSR’s and its shores will not have ice. This will make its navigation possible all year.
However, he added that the continuous warming would arise certain risks. For instance, in Norilsk, where houses are built on the permafrost, their basements have shifted. This will make the need for new construction norms and regulations necessary.
NSR crosses through the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea and is about 5,600km long.
The fact is that there is more traffic in this route lately, as journey times between Asia and Europe can be reduced by up to two weeks. Namely, companies such as Maersk, ESL Shipping, Cosco, and Sovcomflot have all chosen NSR to sail some of their ships.
Nevertheless, the arctic summer sea ice is approximately half the extent it was in the 1970s and half the volume, while the region’s strongest sea ice has broken up twice this year, for the first time on record.
The use of heavy fuel oil in the Arctic not only increases the risk of devastating oil spills, but it also generates higher emissions of black carbon, which exacerbate the melting of both sea and glacier ice.
This April, IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee agreed to move forward on consideration of an Arctic ban on heavy fuel oil. The meeting directed a sub-committee (PPR6) to develop a ban on heavy fuel oil use and carriage for use by ships in the Arctic.
Earlier this year, the Clean Arctic Alliance challenged Maersk to come clean on what fuel the ‘Venta Maersk’ will use when crossing Arctic waters. Moreover, commenting on the occasion that the Cosco owned cargo ship ‘Tian En’ managed to sail out of the Arctic Circle successfully, they also called COSCO to reveal the nature of the fuel that the Tian’en has used and carried through Arctic waters.