Northern Sea Route To See Record Shipping Volumes During 2024

Russia’s Rosatom state nuclear energy corporation expects record volumes of traffic along the Northern Sea Route (NSR) during 2024, CEO Alexei Likhachev said during last weeks ‘Developing the Northern Sea Route: Results for 2023’, and ‘Plans up to 2035’ meetings.

Likhachev also said that the volume of transportation currently significantly exceeds the figures for the same period last year.

According to Likhachev, a year ago, when a steady cargo turnover of 33-34 million tonnes was reported on the NSR, the annual plan of 36 million tonnes “seemed like a record high,” but now this figure has been surpassed as well. He added that it was possible not only to fulfill this record plan, but also “to start rolling out the eastern route.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin had set the task of increasing cargo turnover on the Northern Sea Route to 80 million tonnes in 2024. Over the past few years, a number of government decisions have been made to boost hydrocarbon projects along the NSR, as well as to develop the infrastructure and fleet there. This includes a plan to develop the Northern Sea Route through 2035 with total funding of almost ₽1.8 trillion (US$19.5 billion).

The NSR, which is 30% shorter than the route through the Suez Canal, could become a new international transportation alternative, and Russia is ready for an international partnership to develop the route.

The boundaries of the NSR are defined by the Code of Merchant Shipping: from the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the west to Cape Dezhnev in Chukotka. There is extensive coverage of the Northern Sea Route development in Chapter 13 of our complimentary ‘Russia’s Pivot to Asia’ 2024 PDF. That can be downloaded for free here.