Russia wants to roughly quadruple shipping traffic on the North-East Passage via the Arctic Ocean from the 36 million tons moved last year to as much as 150 million tons, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday at an economic meeting.
"In the future, transport could increase to 150 million tons," Putin told the 27th St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). The 36 million tons that moved last year consisted of freight transported on the northern sea route between Europe and Asia.
Russia is expanding the sea route along its northern coast and establishing overland transport routes to its Arctic harbours, Putin said.
The Arctic route between Europe and Asia is significantly shorter than the routes through the Indian Ocean, but it is blocked by ice for a large part of the year. Climate change is extending the navigable time.
One of the uses Russia puts the route to is the transport of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by ship from the port of Sabetta on the Yamal Peninsula in Siberia to customers in Asia.
Moscow is also planning to build new nuclear icebreakers to keep the route open for longer and increase its presence in the Arctic Ocean. Many Russian harbours along the northern coast have no connection to the road or rail network.
Critics fear that an increase in shipping traffic could damage the sensitive Arctic environment.
