Ships will be able to use the northern passage through the Arctic Sea for about two months this year, according to forecasts from a marine weather specialist.
The Northern Sea Route (NSR) on the Siberian side — also known as the Northeast Passage — is expected to open from mid-August to early October, Weathernews said in its annual Arctic Sea ice predictions.
“Although shorter than the longest-ever record of 88 days marked last year, the passage is projected to stay open for approximately two months,” the Japan-based analyst said.
Weathernews expects the NSR on the Canadian side to open in early September.
“While areas of open water that began to emerge along the coasts in late May this year are gradually expanding, the ice-covered areas are decreasing at a slightly lower rate compared to the same period last year,” it said.
Last year saw longer availability of the passage amid record summer temperatures in Siberia.
This year, the ice area in the region is expected to shrink to 3.74m square kilometres in mid-September, the third-smallest reading since records began in 1979.
An increasing number of LNG carriers transporting natural gas extracted in the region have come to use the NSR to shorten travel times.
Dynagas’ 147,500-cbm Ob River (built 2007) became the first such ship to transit the route in 2012.
Weathernews, a Chiba-based company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, has been monitoring the route since 2011, combining information from proprietary microsatellites with outside satellite images.
