Northeast Passage

Two German-owned cargo ships recently completed the first transit of the Northeast Passage (which the Russian Government officially refers to as the Northern Sea Route or Sevmorput) by non-Russian ships. The ships (Beluga Fraternity and Beluga Foresight) were delivering heavy project cargo of Russian ports on the Arctic Ocean. They were escorted by a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker. Use of the Northeast Passage as a shortcut between the North Atlantic and the North Pacific Oceans was first proposed in 1525, but it was not until 1878 that the first successful voyage was made of the entire length of the waterway. With the advent of modern icebreakers, the Northeast Passage was officially opened by the Soviet Government in 1935, but use thereof was restricted to Soviet vessels. In 1965, the US Coast Guard icebreaker NORTHWIND attempted a transit of the Northeast Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. After the Soviet Government protested the planned transit of Vilkitski Strait connecting the Kara Sea to the Laptev Sea, the voyage was terminated and the NORTHWIND turned back to the west.  While climate change has reduced the volume of ice in the Northeast Passage during summer months, it will take much greater changes to open the Passage to the point that it will be viewed as a reliable alternative for commercial voyages between the Atlantic and Pacific. The recent Beluga voyages, though, have highlighted the growing opportunity for commercial voyages to Russian ports on the Arctic Ocean. As natural resource extraction projects increase in the Russian North, the opportunities for ice-strengthened commercial vessels in these waters will grow.