This shipyard builds 70 ships! Accelerated growth of cargo volume on the Northern Sea Route?

In order to meet the growing freight demand of Russia's Northern Sea Route, Russia's largest shipyard Red Star Shipyard is speeding up the construction of cargo ships required for transportation.

Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Viktor Yevtukhov said recently that in order to complete the transportation along the Northern Sea Route, about 70 ships are needed. The current order plans to build 26 ships, all of which will be built at the Red Star Shipyard (Zvezda), including 15 ice-breaking LNG carriers, 10 120,000-ton AST120K and one 69,000-ton AST69K shuttle tanker.

Red Star Shipyard is the largest modern shipyard in Russia. It was established by a consortium formed by Rosneft, Rosneftegaz and Gazprombank, relying on the Far East Ship Repair Center (FESRC) in Vladimir Kamen. A large ship repairing enterprise is built on the basis of new construction, close to the Great Kamen Bay.

Many ships built by Red Star Shipyard are able to navigate the Northern Sea Route. The route lies within Russia's exclusive economic zone in the Arctic region and is one of three traffic routes linking its Far Eastern and European parts. Russian law defines the Northern Sea Route as "a unified national transport route formed historically by Russia in the Arctic region".

It is understood that the Northern Sea Route stretches from the Barents Sea near the Russian-Norwegian border to the Bering Strait in the North Pacific Ocean, with a total length of more than 3,000 nautical miles (5,550 kilometers), which is the shortest route between Asia and Europe. Compared with the traditional Suez Canal route, the Northern Sea Route can shorten the voyage between East Asia and Northwest Europe by 4,000 nautical miles, reduce shipping time by about two weeks, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

The Northern Sea Route is very important to Russia. Since 2008, Russia has repeatedly mentioned in government documents that the Northern Sea Route will be an "international traffic artery" that can rival the Strait of Malacca-Suez Canal route. Russian President Vladimir Putin once pointed out that as a shortcut between Europe and Asia, the Northern Sea Route is comparable to the Suez Canal.

Cargo transported via the Northern Sea Route has increased nearly fivefold since 2016, from 7.5 million tons before the launch of the Yamal LNG project in the Russian Arctic to a record 32.97 million tons in 2020, far exceeding the expected target of 29 million tons in 2020.Among them, LNG cargo contributed the most, reaching 1,800 tons; followed by petroleum, minerals and transit transportation, such as towing equipment and tools required for building factories.

Between July 1 and November 30 this year, a total of 100 ships used the Northern Sea Route with the assistance of icebreakers, while another 30 used the route without the aid of icebreakers, according to Rosatom data. As of now, the Russian government's transition goal of 32 million tons of cargo volume in 2022 on the Northern Sea Route has been achieved. In an extremely difficult situation this year, the cargo volume of the Northern Sea Route may reach 34 million tons.

Alexei Likhachev, President of Rosatom, said at the Eastern Economic Forum in September this year: "The current geopolitical situation has not reduced the importance of the Northern Sea Route as a transport corridor. Because the freight economy between Europe and Asia is on this route." There's no substitute on the line."

He pointed out: "We see that international traffic has decreased. But Russian traffic is increasing at an unprecedented rate, and this year the Northern Sea Route traffic has increased by 5% to 5.5% per month."

The Russian government earlier approved the development plan for the Northern Sea Route until 2035. The plan includes expanding the cargo export base and coastal and transit transport, upgrading and building ports and other infrastructure, and developing the Arctic cargo and icebreaking fleet. According to the plan, by 2035 the cargo volume of the Northern Sea Route should reach 220 million tons.

In addition to building transport ships, Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said that Russia is also building emergency rescue ships for the Northern Sea Route, of which 6 should be delivered next year and 10 in 2024. By 2030, Russia's emergency rescue fleet for securing the Northern Sea Route is expected to have 54 ships.