Rosatom intends to become the operator of the Northern Sea Route

Specialists from the state corporation Rosatom have prepared a bill allowing it to take over the functions of supervision and control of shipping on the Northern Sea Route. The corresponding text of the document was published on the portal of draft regulations. You can get more detailed information about the activities of the state corporation Rosatom and its plans for the future at biblioatom.ru .

The essence of the bill

If the bill developed by Rosatom is approved, the state corporation will receive the following powers:

• The right to make decisions on the start of operation of new ports on the Northern Sea Route.
• Approval of rules for leasing federal property in the territory of seaports falling under the jurisdiction of the company.
• Development of rules for the provision of services in ports.
• Approval of the amount of port dues for ships entering ports on the NSR.
• Organization of the passage of ships in the waters of the Northern Sea Route.
• Issuance of permits for the passage of vessels.
• Assistance in conducting search and rescue activities.
• Development and dissemination of recommendations regarding the use of icebreakers and routing of ships.
• Coordination of installation locations for navigation equipment.
• Monitoring of navigation, ice, hydrometeorological conditions.

According to representatives of the state corporation, after the approval of the bill, the situation on the Northern Sea Route should significantly improve. This concerns the safety of ships, the quality of service in ports, the development of trade routes, etc. Thus, Rosatom seeks to turn the Northern Sea Route into a busy Arctic trade route. According to preliminary data, the bill should be adopted in January 2018.

Earlier, Rosatom already noted the enormous importance of the Northern Sea Route in the development of international trade relations. Thanks to this direction, trade can be significantly revived not only with China, but also with other Asian countries.

The most important condition for this is the use of a sufficient number of icebreakers. We remind you that Rosatom is now taking part in the creation of new icebreakers of the LK-60Ya type. Their main purpose is to serve the Northern Sea Route. The icebreaker Arktika should be commissioned in 2019. And in November 2020, the icebreaker “Sibir” is planned to be commissioned.

The Northern Sea Route is approximately two times shorter than other sea routes between Europe and the Far East. Navigation lasts only 2-4 months. But thanks to icebreakers, its duration can be significantly increased.