Commercial Shipping on the Northern Sea Route

Over the past eight decades the ice-infested sea route along the Russian Arctic coast has been steadily developed. Massive resources, including nuclear-powered icebreakers, have now enabled regular navigation. The western portion is kept open all year and there are through voyages between the Atlantic and the Pacific for three or four months annually. The sea route is part of an overall transportation system. Development has concentrated on transporting Siberian raw materials and delivering goods from other parts of the country to coastal ports and the great Siberian river arteries. It is the rivers which in fact carry the bulk of cargoes to the northern coast, although navigation is also seasonal. The use of the Arctic Ocean as a short-cut between Europe and Asia/North America has until now been limited. Recent political and economic changes in Russia have altered official attitudes about international use of the sea route; the authorities are currently encouraging foreign interest in shipping across the top of Eurasia.