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Development of Transit Potential of the Northern Sea Route Pp GRIGORYEV M.N. DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSIT POTENTIAL OF THE NORTHERN SEA ROUTE PP. 81–97 National Peculiarities1 DOI: 10.23932/2542-0240-2019-12-5-109-129 Development of Transit Potential of the Northern Sea Route Mikhail N. GRIGORYEV Ph.D. in Geology & Mineralogy, Leading Researcher Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997, Profsoyuznaya St., 23, Moscow, Russian Federation E-mail: [email protected] ORCID: 0000-0002-4559-9016 CITATION: Grigoryev M.N. (2019) Development of Transit Potential of the Northern Sea Route. Outline of Global Transformations: Politics, Economics, Law, vol. 12, no 5, pp. 109–129 (in Russian). DOI: 10.23932/2542-0240-2019-12-5-109-129 Received: 8.05.2019. ABSTRACT. The Article defines the sec- lovsk-Kamchatsky, Murmansk, Arkhan- toral structure of the Northern Sea trans- gelsk, and St. Petersburg. The author sum- port corridor, the set of the transport tasks marizes the results of the development of provided by them - the international tran- transit transportations in 2010-2018 and sit, import and export operations, and con- identifies the factors defining the demand siders internal transportation. It is shown for transit shipments of various cargoes. that in relation to the water area of the sec- The Article also provides an assessment of tor of the Northern Sea Route, both inter- the development prospects of transit freight national and internal transportation (big traffic by international shipping companies cabotage and intersectoral transporta- (Maersk). The conclusion is that support- tion) can be referred to as transit. Tran- ing national investment projects should sit transportation across the Northern be a priority when improving navigation Sea Route between countries in 2010- along the Northern Sea Route – transpor- 2018 has been analyzed. The Article also tation of mineral resources and support- defines transit dynamics and commodity ing mining companies. At the same time, structure. Dynamics of transit transporta- creating a steady transportation system for tion of main types of freights are consid- Arctic mineral resources calls for the de- ered: bulk freights (oil products, gas con- velopment of icebreaking, navigation, and densate), bulk cargoes (iron ore, coal). The hydrometeorological support. This will re- dynamics of Russia’s internal transit trans- duce risks associated with Arctic naviga- portation across the Northern Sea Route tion and increase the appeal of the Arctic have been analyzed. The article also ana- sea transport system as a whole. The Arti- lyzes the dynamics of transportation of fro- cle identifies the following necessary con- zen fish, the possible transit of which may ditions for the development of navigation prompt the creation of a year-round con- in the Northern Sea Route: expanding the tainer line between the ports of Petropav- domestic Arctic linear icebreaker fleet; cen- 81 OUTLINES OF GLOBAL TRANSFORMATIONS SPECIAL ISSUE • 2021 tral planning of sea freight transporta- Asia and Europe [Todorov 2017; Bolsuno- tion and coordination of actions of partic- vskaya, Boyarko 2014; Pavlov, Selin 2016; ipants, which could increase the appeal of Polovinkin, Fomichev 2012] It is also of- the Northern Sea Route, including its role ten emphasized that “Russia has more to for transit. gain from such expansion This applies to the freight of Russian vessels, fees for the KEYWORDS: Northern Sea transport cor- passage of foreign ships, icebreaker fees, ridor, Northern Sea Route, international etc “[Kheifets 2018] However, it must be transit, internal transit, container transpor- noted that charges for passage along the tation, navigation restrictions, cargo base, Northern Sea Route are against the basic ice breakers, prospects principles of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea The development of Arctic shipping, Some authors are skeptical about particularly in the waters of the North- the possibility of significant growth of ern Sea Route, currently aims at nation- such transit [Komkov, Selin, Tsukerman, al strategic and systemic projects, dealing Goryachevskaya 2016; Kuvatov, Koz- with the exploitation of natural resourc- movsky, Shatalova 2014; Lukin 2015] es of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Fed- According to “Atomflot” experts, the eration main reason for the weak development of The development of mineral resourc- transit shipping is the lack of a large cargo es is the first motivation for the develop- base, and “given the limited number of ice- ment of Arctic shipping not only in Rus- breakers, future transit will only be possi- sia but also in other Arctic countries, ble against large guaranteed consignments such as Canada, Denmark, the USA, and and a clear schedule of routes” [Ruksha, Norway Belkin, Smirnov, Arutyunyan 2015] One of the directions of the Northern The subsidiary role of the Northern Sea Route’s development is connected with Sea Route in the system of internation- the establishment of a competitive interna- al transit is most clearly defined in the tional trading artery to ensure cargo flow following way [Selin, Kozmenko 2015, p between the markets of the North Pacific 110]: “Thus, at present the Northern Sea and the North Atlantic Route as an international transit artery The transit potential of the North- remains on stand-by of the international ern Sea Route, especially in the context transport system, falling short of an oper- of global warming, is highly appraised in ating link” Arctic strategies of Arctic and non-Arctic The current state of development of the countries alike [Arctic Strategic Outlook Northern Sea Route infrastructure shows 2019; China’s Arctic Policy 2019] that transit voyages, both domestic and in- Many authors see China as having a ternational, will be irregular and provide special role in the development of Arctic limited cargo flow (according to the Min- transit cargo traffic [Kryukov 2018; Kheif- istry of Transport of Russia, in 2024 inter- etz 2018] national and internal transit will not ex- The future of transit along the North- ceed 1 million tons) ern Sea Route has attracted mixed criti- The article aims to analyze the peculi- cisms Some authors value highly the arities of transit shipping development in prospects for such development, explain- the Arctic in recent years and to identify ing that this will provide for a short- the primary tasks to grasp its transit po- er route between the ports of Southeast tential fully 82 GRIGORYEV M.N. DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSIT POTENTIAL OF THE NORTHERN SEA ROUTE PP. 81–97 Transit transportation along Norway on the delimitation of maritime the Northern Sea Route spaces and cooperation in the Barents Sea in the total freight traffic and the Arctic Ocean” of the Northern Sea transport The eastern boundary of NSTC is the corridor maritime delimitation line between the USSR and the United States, as deline- The analysis of the transit traffic ated by the Agreement on the Maritime in the waters of the Northern Sea trans- Boundary, signed in 1990 At the signing port corridor requires understand- ceremony, the Parties agreed on its pro- ing of its role in the general structure visional application from June 15, 1990, of the Northern Sea transport corridor, in accordance with the 1969 Vienna Con- which accommodates the entire bulk of vention on the Law of Treaties (Article cargo shipments in the Arctic areas of 25, “Provisional application”) The Agree- Russia ment was ratified by the US Congress on The Northern Sea transport corridor September 18, 1990, but has yet to be rat- (NSTC) is a historically established na- ified by the Russian Parliament tional transport link of the Russian Fed- The internal borders of the NSTC eration, which includes ports and ship- sectors are defined by the Federal Law ping routes along the Arctic seas and riv- of 28072012 no 132-FZ “On amend- ers flowing into the Barents, White and ing certain legislative acts of the Russian Pechora seas to the west, the Northern Federation concerning state regulation of Sea Route (Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, commercial navigation along the North- and Chukchi seas) in the central part, and ern Sea Route” The law lays down the the Bering Sea to the east boundaries of the Northern Sea Route as The Northern Sea transport corridor follows: “The Northern Sea Route is a wa- (NSTC) may be divided into three sectors ter space adjacent to the northern coast of [Grigoryev (1) 2017]: the Russian Federation, covering inland 1) the Pomorsky sector includes the sea waters, the territorial sea, contiguous Barents, Pechora and White Seas; zone and exclusive economic zone of the 2) the Northern Sea Route covers Russian Federation and bound to the east the water area of the Northern Sea by the maritime delimitation line with Route as defined by Federal Law the United States of America and the no 525-FZ of December 27, 2018, parallel of Cape Dezhnev in the Bering and includes the waters of the Kara Strait, to the west – by the meridian of Sea, the Laptev Sea, the East Siberi- the Cape Zhelaniya to the Novaya Zem- an, and Chukchi Seas; lya archipelago, and by the eastern shore- 3) the Kamchatka sector includes the line of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago Bering Sea and the North Pacific and the western borders of the Matoch- Ocean kin, Kara, and Yugorski Straits “ The northern border of NSTC is the To the west, NSTC is limited by the outward line of the exclusive economic maritime demarcation line between the zone of the Russian Federation in the Arc- Russian Federation and
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