Issue link: http://digital.nexsitepublishing.com/i/269434
20 S February 2014 www.cargobusinessnews.com By CBn Canadian Contributing editor Fred MCCAgue between Cambridge Bay and Resolute was ice-covered and new ice was forming along the length of Lancaster Sound. The Northern Sea Route is, like the Northwest Passage, a variety of routes. Lengths range from 2,200 to 2,900 nautical miles, depending on the route taken. The route is open from July 1 to the end of November. Russia's four 75,000 hp nuclear icebreakers provide escorts for convoys of ships on the route. However, Bonfils said, icebreaking dues "are quite a bit." Other operators have indicated they can be much higher than Panama Canal dues. The route is 4,000 miles shorter between Japan and Rotterdam than via Suez. Bonfils notes, "It is our fourth year in the Northern Sea Route, while this was our first time on the Northwest Passage." He confirmed his company will continue using the Northern Sea Route and will try the Northwest Passage again in 2014. He pointed out that his company is building more ice-class ships and notes the prime market is winter "in the St. Lawrence and Baltic countries." Cape Dezhnev in Bering Strait marks the Pacific entrance to the Northern Sea Route. The route was opened up to international shipping in 2009, with five ships using the route. This doubled in 2010, jumping to 41 in 2011 and 46 in 2012. Russian authorities note there were 71 crossings of the Northern Sea Route in 2013. Of these, 40 were full transits between the Pacific past Bering Strait and the Barents Sea on the Atlantic side via either Kara Gate (between the Barents to Kara Seas) south of Novaya Zemlya or Cape Zhelaniya on the north. Sixteen of these were product tankers carrying condensate, diesel fuel or fuel oil. Two icebreaker/supply ships − Nordica and Fennica − chartered for the summer by Shell Oil, sailed to Europe from Dutch Harbor via the Northern Sea Route last October, having made the same journey in October 2012. The other 31 began or ended within the Russian Arctic, many to or from the port of Pevek, southwest of Wrangel Island. In a presentation, Konstantin Palnikov, director of the Department of State Policy for Maritime and River Transport for Russia said, "As a result of sounding works in 2011 and 2012, the route north of the Novosibirsk Islands (between the Chukchi and East Siberian Seas) was surveyed, allowing the movement of vessels with a draft of up to 15 meters." The largest ship to take advantage of this was the tanker Propontis, which in 2013 sailed from Ulsan, Korea on September 14 with 109,000 mtons of gas oil for Denmark. The ship was at its maximum draft of 50 feet. However, this is only the through traffic. There are 16 major Russian ports in the Arctic, many with direct river access. The busiest is Dudinka on the Yenisei River, 200 "The Northern Sea Route is, like the Northwest Passage, a variety of routes. Lengths range from 2,200 to 2,900 nautical miles, depending on the route taken. The route is open from July 1 to the end of November. Russia's four 75,000 hp nuclear icebreakers provide escorts for convoys of ships on the route. " The tracks of the bulk carrier Nordic Orion and tanker Propontis plus the tracks of other ships show the worldwide impact of Arctic shipping.