News / Northern Sea Route: a time-saver, but unpredictable and risky for box ships

Photo: Rosatom

This month it was revealed that transit traffic on the Northern Sea Route (NSR) – the trans-Arctic shipping lane that runs from Norway’s northernmost reaches to Russia’s Pacific coast and Asia – had increased 66% from January to November, year on year.

However, 15 icebound vessels had to be rescued this week by nuclear icebreaker Vaigach and its diesel-fuelled sister Novorossiysk, after an unseasonably early freeze.

It trapped the multinational group of bulk carriers and general cargo vessels and threw into sharp relief the ...