Russia is preparing a new law to regulate activity along its Northern Sea Route. Here's the report from the Barents Observer: Russia prepares law on Northern Sea Route:
A federal law on the
Northern Sea Route is under elaboration by the Russian State Duma, the
Russian presidential Aide on Arctic and Antarctic issues Artur
Chilingarov said this week.The new law will help regulate shipping along the route, which is believed to become a possible commercial shipping route between Europe and Asia as Arctic sea ice melts.
The new legislation will also determine the external borders of the sea route and formalize its status as a Russian national transport route in the Arctic, Regnum reports.
Mr. Chilingarov says that the legislative document will lay down the main requirements for sailing along the route, among them environmental regulations for the ships using it. Considering the vulnerable environment in the area, the law will strictly forbid the discharge of environmentally harmful substances in the area.
A group of inspectors will be empowered with the expulsion of ships from the route, should they not be observing the regulations.
As previously reported by BarentsObserver, the Northern Sea Route is included as a priority both in the Russian government’s national social and economic development programme for the period until year 2020, as well as in the new Russian National Security Strategy.
The Northern Sea Route follows the Russian Arctic coasts from the Kola Peninsula to the country’s Far East. The vast majority of the route lies in Arctic waters and parts are only free of ice for two months per year. The route was used extensively in the Soviet period with the help of the fleet of nuclear-powered icebreaker, but shipping declined dramatically after the breakup of the union.
Map: Northern Sea Route (Wikipedia)
Sounds like a good idea to me. Hopefully pirates don't exist anymore.
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One reason that Russia has to open the NSR to foreign shipping is simple economics. Maintaining 6 heavy nuclear icebreakers to open the NSR from Kara Sea to Bering Strait on a per ship basis will be reduced the more traffic there is to escort as will the costs of improving the electronic aids to navigation and the search and rescue capability that will need to accompany development of the NSR. Additionally, WTO or not, Russia has import needs and export opportunities as demonstrated by the delivery of heavy equipment to Novvy Port for transshipment by barge inland along the Ob river.
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