Recently, the Christophe de Margerie made history by becoming the first commercial vessel to cross thick ice on the Northern Sea Route unescorted in February.

For sure, the Russian Energy Ministry did not hesitate to say that the blocked Suez Canal underscored the safety and sustainability of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) and Russian energy pipelines.

According to Reuters, the Russian ministry said that these “are highly secure and occupy competitive positions in terms of transport costs as well as reliability compared to alternative routes”.

Russia expects cargo to increase via the Northern Sea Route, which reaches Asia, cutting around 4,000 nautical miles from the southern alternative via the Suez Canal.

In addition, volumes reached nearly 33 million tonnes in 2020 and the Ministry of Energy predicts that this amount will reach 80 million per year by 2024.

Finally, the ministry recalled that its pipelines to Europe include the Druzhba pipeline and the Nord Stream gas link.

Coming soon on the same topic: Aker Arctic presents its latest study: an arctic icebreaker container ship.