A total of 37 full transit voyages were made by 29 vessels along the Northern Sea Route last year — an increase of eight transits on 2018.
According to the Centre of High North Logistics (CHNL), 11 transits were made by general cargo vessels, of which most were controlled by China’s Cosco. Six of the 37 transits required support from icebreakers.
Part of the Nord University Business School in the Norwegian city of Bodo, the CHNL monitors the NSR traffic and shares its figures with Russia’s Northern Sea Route Directorate to produce annual statistics on shipping movements in the region.
In a newly published report — Maritime Traffic along the Northern Sea Route 2019 — CHNL said 31.5 million tons (mt) of cargo was transported on the route last year, up from 19.7 mt in 2018 and 10.7 mt in 2017.
CHNL logged 2,694 voyages, with 439 of these made by ice-class Arc7 LNG carriers, 52 by Arc4 LNG carriers and several with no or lower ice class.
In 2019, LNG accounted for the largest volumes by cargo type with 18.3 mt shipped, compared with 7.6 mt of crude oil, 2.8 mt of other cargoes and 1.3 mt of gas condensate.
2020 seasons
Applications are starting to be listed with Russia’s Northern Sea Route Administration (NSRA) for vessels wishing to navigate the passage during the 2020 season.
More than 40 permissions have been granted, some of the earliest ones for the Arc7 icebreaking LNG carrier fleet and some of the conventional vessels that support it.
The NSRA issues its forecasts for ice conditions in the region in late March, in advance of the first shipping traffic starting to move along the NSR from July.
In advance of this, weather forecasters have reported that there is more ice cover this year than at any time since 2010, with the low-pressure Polar vortex holding cold air above the North Pole. These conditions are predicted to hold into March.
Forecasters said it indicates “at least a temporary stall in sea ice decline”, although the depth and volume of sea ice this year remains below average.
