Rosatom: Freight turnover via Northern Sea Route could grow to 35 mln tonnes in 3–5 years

The icebreakers operated by Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation escorted 410 vessels with total cargo capacity of 5.3 million tonnes through the Northern Sea Route in 2016, or more than double the freight turnover seen in 2015. Freight turnover via the Northern Sea Route could grow at roughly the same pace in 2017, Rosatom Director General Alexei Likhachev said in an interview with TASS news agency.

“The Rosatom nuclear fleet escorted 195 vessels with total cargo capacity of 2 million tonnes through the Northern Sea Route in 2015 and 410 vessels with cargo capacity of 5.3 million tonnes in 2016. The growth [last year] compared with the previous year was more than two-fold. In 2017, I think this multiple increase will continue because we already have the relevant contracts”, he said.

According to Rosatom, the volume of freight turnover via the Northern Sea Route could grow to 35 million tonnes within three to five years.

“The demand for using this route for such major projects as Yamal LNG, which is being implemented by Novatek, and the development of Gazprom Neft’s Novoportovskoye field is confirmation of this”, Likhachev said.