Retreating ice makes it possible for tankers to traffic increasingly further north. According to First Deputy Director of Novatek, Mikhail Popov, the tankers shipping gas condensate along the route are now choosing to sail north of the Novosiberian Island. Until this year, vessels have all sailed south of the island through the Sannikov Strait.
The new pathway makes it more safe for bigger tankers to sail across the Arctic route, Popov says to MBnews.ru. Ships with a submersion of up to 12 meters can traffic along the new pathway, while the shallow waters of the Sannikov Strait restricts both speed and size, he adds.
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As BarentsObserver reported, the first supertanker ever to take the Northern Sea Route from Europe to Asia was the 162,000 dwt Suezmax-class “Vladimir Tikhonov”, which sailed from Novaya Zemlya to the Bering Strait in only seven and a half day. This was half a day shorter than the previous record, set by the 74,000 dwt Panamax-class “STI Heritage”. Both records were made in September this year.
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The last ship to sail through the route so far this year is the Finnish-registered “Stena Poseidon” which shipped 60,000 tons of Russian condensate to China.
According to Novatek, a total of 420,000 tons of condensate will be shipped along the Northern Sea Route in 2011, up from 71,000 tons in 2010. In 2012, the volumes will be about the same as in 2011. Then, in 2016 the volumes will boom with the construction of the South Tambey LNG plant. From that year on, Novatek will eventually ship as much as 15 million tons of LNG and one million tons of condensate along the Northern Sea Route.
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