Bering Strait News

Attacks by Yemeni Houthi rebels on merchant ships in the Red Sea have hit world trade. Between November and December 2023, the number of containers travelling through the Red Sea each day fell by 60% as ships moving goods between Asia and Europe diverted their routes around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa.This route results in at least ten days more sailing time, so has caused freight prices to surge and has triggered costly delays to production. The region has become a bottleneck for the global economy before.

Russian nuclear agency Rosatom said on Tuesday it has set up a joint venture with Dubai's DP World to develop container shipping through the Arctic as part of an initiative heavily promoted by President Vladimir Putin.The deal with one of the world's top port operators is the most tangible sign yet of Moscow's ability to attract big international partners to help it realise its ambitious plans for what it calls the Northern Sea Route.Putin has talked up prospects for the Arctic corridor…

Russia must boost production facilities for the construction of ice-breaking vessels in order to meet its targets for increasing trade via the Northern Sea route, Moscow's official in charge of Arctic development has said.The government has been in talks with India and China on such projects, Alexei Chekunkov, the head of Russia's Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic, told RBC media.Russia has long viewed the route, which runs from Murmansk near Russia's border with Norway eastwards to the Bering Strait near Alaska…

A Kremlin aide urged the Russian government on Thursday to adopt legislation allowing foreign-flagged vessels to use the Northern Sea Route (NSR), which Moscow wants to turn into a new Suez Canal.The NSR runs from Murmansk near Russia's border with Norway eastwards to the Bering Strait near Alaska.Although the route is physically challenging, it could cut sea transport times between Europe and Asia at a time when Russia's trade with Western countries is at post-Cold War lows following Moscow's decision to send troops into Ukraine."We have been left without transit routes.

Following another year of stark climate impacts in the Arctic, scientists warned Tuesday of a new scourge hitting the region: marine trash.With the region warming twice as fast as the rest of the world, sea ice that has long blanketed the Arctic Ocean is disappearing, opening new routes to shipping. Scientists began noticing the trash bobbing in the icy water or piling up on Alaska Bering Strait-area beaches last year.“That’s a direct result of increased human maritime activities…

Container shipping giant MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company doubled down on its position to avoid sending its vessels through the Northern Sea Route and urged others to follow suit, citing environmental concerns.“As a responsible company, this was an obvious decision for us,” said MSC CEO, Soren Toft. “MSC will not seek to cut through the melting ice of the Arctic to find a new route for commercial shipping, and I consider this a position the whole shipping industry must adopt.”Running from Murmansk near Russia’s border with Norway to the Bering Strait near Alaska…

President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday Russia wanted to retain its "superiority" in the Arctic and that it planned to renew its icebreaker fleet to bolster its presence there.Moscow has stepped up its efforts to tap the region's commercial potential, including by increasing freight traffic on the Northern Sea Route, which runs from Murmansk in the Russian Arctic to the Bering Strait near Alaska.In recent years Russia has also reopened abandoned Soviet military, air and radar bases in the energy-rich region as it vies for dominance against traditional rivals Canada…

A nuclear-powered ice breaker Russia says is the world’s largest and most powerful set off on Tuesday on a two-week journey to the Arctic as part of Moscow’s efforts to tap the region’s commercial potential.Known as Arktika, the nuclear icebreaker left St. Petersburg and headed for the Arctic port of Murmansk, a journey that marks its entry into Russia’s icebreaker fleet.Russian state firm Rosatomflot has called the vessel the world’s largest and most powerful icebreaker.

Sovcomflot's Arc7 ice-class Christophe de Margerie liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier has made history by successfully transiting the Eastbound ice-covered part of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) in May, carrying LNG from Novatek's Yamal LNG project to China.The Russian vessel owner said the event marked the first time in the history of the shipping industry that a large-capacity vessel of this class has passed along the Northern Sea Route eastwards in May when the ice conditions in the eastern sector of the NSR are rather difficult.

The good news is that work has commenced on the first new heavy polar icebreaker for the United States Coast Guard in 43 years. The bad news is that when it enters service, projected to occur in FY2024, it will be the first new heavy polar icebreaker for the USCG in 47 years.Meanwhile, Russia has approximately 30 active polar icebreakers, including four that are nuclear powered. Arktika, the first of a new class of three heavy polar icebreakers, has commenced sea trials in the Gulf of Finland, with the other two under construction.

High in the Arctic Circle lies the Northern Sea Route, one of the planet’s vital shipping arteries. It cuts a journey by almost a third compared to the southern route but it is passing through waters which are mostly frozen.The northern route connects east and west, allowing cargo to be transferred from northern Europe to northeast Asia, via the Bering Strait. It’s a 30% faster passage than the southern Europe-Asia alternative via the Suez Canal and is attractive to shipping companies, thanks to considerable fuel and emission savings.

Russia's first-floating nuclear power plant has arrived to its permanent base near an isolated Russian town across the Bering Strait from Alaska, Russian state nuclear energy company Rosatom said on Saturday.Developed by Rosatom, the plant, known as "Akademik Lomonosov", set off on a 5,000 km (3,100 mile) journey on Aug. 23 through Arctic waters to reach the Chukotka region. Rosatom said it aims to make the floating station operational by the year-end. It would become the world's…

A liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker carrying a cargo from the Yamal LNG plant has spent this week making its way through Arctic waters north of Russia towards Asia, marking the first voyage of the 2019 summer season across the Northern Sea Route.The Vladimir Rusanov, an Arc7-classed LNG tanker that can plough through semi-cleared waters, left the Sabetta port on June 29 and is in the Chukchi Sea close to the Bering Strait, Refinitiv Eikon shipping data showed on Friday.The route…

Shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk said on Friday it is in talks with Russia's state-owned icebreaker operator to send more goods via the Arctic, which is becoming more accessible as climate change reduces the sea ice.Russia has made developing the so-called northern sea route (NSR) - which requires new ports and heavy icebreakers to move goods - a priority, with supporters dubbing the route the northern Suez Canal.Last summer, Maersk carried out what it said was a one-off trial…

The Beloe More recently joined its sister vessel Severnaya Dvina in the Port of Sabetta, northern Russia. The 2,000 m3 hopper dredger was delivered from stock to FSUE ROSMORPORT. The customized hopper dredger will perform maintenance duties and execute capital dredging in the newly created harbor.The Beloe More - meaning ‘White Sea’ in Russian - is not the first vessel Damen has delivered to ROSMORPORT. As Vadim Akimov, Damen Sales Director, explains : “ROSMORPORT is the Russian enterprise responsible for the accessibility of all major Russian sea ports.

The Danish-flagged cargo ship Venta Maersk, owned by the world's biggest shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk, has successfully passed through the Russian Arctic, in a trial voyage showing that melting sea ice could potentially open a new trade route from Europe to east Asia.Palle Laursen, the chief technical officer of A.P. Moller-Maersk saying that the cargo vessel has made the journey as a one-off trial. “The trial allowed us to gain exceptional operational experience, test vessel systems, crew capabilities and the functionality of the shore based support setup,” he said.Laursen said the ship, which had a cargo of frozen fish, arrived in St. Petersburg on Friday, after leaving Russia's Pacific port city of Vladivostok on Aug. 22.

A Maersk vessel loaded with Russian fish and South Korean electronics will next week become the first containership to navigate an Arctic sea route that Russia hopes will become a new shipping highway.The Arctic voyage by the 3,600 20-foot container capacity Venta Maersk is the latest step in the expansion of the so-called Northern Sea Route which is becoming more accessible to ships as climate change reduces the amount of sea ice.The brand new Venta Maersk, one of the world's largest ice-class vessels, will also collect scientific data, said Maersk, underlining that the voyage is a one-off trial for now.The decision by Maersk, the world's biggest container shipping group…

An icebreaking liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier has completed a record journey through the Northern Sea Route (NSR) in the Arctic.The Christophe de Margerie owned and operated by Sovcomflot (SCF Group) covered the distance of 2,360 nautical miles eastward through the NSR, from the port of Sabetta (Yamal Peninsula) to Cape Dezhnev (the Bering Strait), in seven days and 17 hours, a new record time for a merchant ship without icebreaker support during the month of July. Throughout the record-setting passage…

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) announced that the Ice-Breaking LNG Carrier "Vladimir Rusanov", which is jointly owned by MOL and China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited for the Yamal LNG project, made its first call at PetroChina LNG Jiangsu Terminal in China on 17 July.A ceremony celebrating this milestone was held on 19 July.At the end of March 2018, the vessel started transportation services for LNG produced by the Yamal LNG plant at Sabetta port in Russia. For its latest voyage, the vessel departed from Sabetta port on 25 June, and had its first opportunity to navigate independently eastwards along the Northern Sea Route without ice-breaker support.The vessel passed the Bering Strait on 6 July, and safely made its first call at PetroChina LNG Jiangsu Terminal in China on 17 July.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) announced that the Ice-Breaking LNG Carrier "Vladimir Rusanov", which is jointly owned by MOL and China COSCO Shipping Corporation, has successfully arrived at the Bering Strait. The vessel carried out a LNG loading operation in the Yamal LNG plant at Sabetta port, before sailing for the Far East via the Northern Sea Route on 25 June. The vessel safely arrived at the Bering Strait on 6 July, and is planning to call Jiangsu Rudong port in China for an unloading operation of its LNG cargo. The vessel is the first of three newbuilding vessels destined for the MOL and China COSCO Shipping fleets in the Yamal LNG Project, as announced in July 2014.

The International Maritime Organization approved the Bering Strait and Bering Sea ship routing measures proposed by the United States and Russian Federation. Taking effect Dec. 1, 2018, the six two-way routes and six precautionary areas are the first internationally recognized ship routing measures the IMO has approved for polar waters. In November 2017, the U.S. and Russia proposed a system of two-way routes for vessels to follow in the Bering Strait and Bering Sea in response to increased shipping traffic there. “We have observed a steady increase in Arctic shipping activities over the last decade, and these routing measures were jointly developed in response to this increased activity,” said Mike Sollosi, the chief of the U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Standards Division. Located in U.S.

Russia's first-floating nuclear power plant arrived in the Arctic port of Murmansk over the weekend in preparation for its maiden mission, providing electricity to an isolated Russian town across the Bering Strait from Alaska.The state company behind the plant, called the "Akademik Lomonosov", says it could pioneer a new power source for remote regions of the planet, but green campaigners have expressed concern about the risk of nuclear accidents. Greenpeace has called it the "nuclear Titanic".Russian state nuclear company Rosatom…

The Clean Arctic Alliance has applauded progress by International Maritime Organization member states towards banning use of the world’s dirtiest fuel – heavy fuel oil – from Arctic shipping. It also called for Member States to make every effort to adopt and rapidly implement a ban by 2021, as proposed by eight IMO Member States and supported by other countries during the meeting. Plans to develop a ban on heavy fuel oil (HFO) from Arctic shipping, along with an assessment of the impact of such a ban, were agreed upon during the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC72), which closed today in London.