© Sovcomflot.ruRussia wants to build a big number of new ice-class ships, among them nuclear powered icebreakers.
Comment: Clearly Russia does not believe the demonstrably false claims that the arctic will be 'free of ice' due to man-made global warming; it wouldn't risk such massive investments without good reason to think otherwise: Two icebreakers sent to rescue TWENTY ice-locked ships on Northern Sea Route in the Arctic
Among them is the building of 153 new ice-class ships, including ten icebreakers, twelve new seaports, twelve satellites, thirteen helicopters, several hospitals and search and rescue units.
All of this will allow Russia to transport up to 100 million tons of goods per year by 2025 and 200 million tons by 2030, the federal Ministry of the Far East and Arctic informs.
© KremlinPutin has Arctic development as one of his top priorities. Here from a visit to the Franz Josef Land in 2017.
Comment: As will become clear through the article, and from others by The Barents Observer, their propaganda slant against Russia is fairly shameless. With that in mind, whilst these officials may have been 'locked' in a room, it's likely that there's more to the story.
The plan comes as Russia spends major parts of its state treasury on the war against Ukraine and international sanctions cripple key sectors of its economy.
Comment: Demonstrably false: Russia proposes new precious metals market to compete with RIGGED bullion market in London - analyst
Nonetheless, the Russian government argues that the Northern Sea Route is a much-needed priority.
"This is a reliable maritime seaway, widely needed by businesses and of course by the people that live in the Arctic and the Far East," Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin underlined in a presentation.
Comment: The US seems to think so too: Finland will 'guard NATO's new land border with Russia' with first fleet of US F-35 fighter jets in Arctic Circle in 2026
"And it is fully located in our territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zone, which is of key importance in a time of external pressure from sanctions and when logistics chains for delivery of goods are disrupted," he added.
The new plan comes after President Vladimir Putin in April this year called for an acceleration of current and future projects in the region.
But far from everyone has faith in the projects.
Leader of consultancy company Gecon Mikhail Grigoriev says he has been skeptical towards the official government policy at least since 2018 when Vladimir Putin requested that annual goods volumes on the route reach 80 million tons by 2024.
According to Grigoriev, it is not clear from where the vast goods volumes will come.
Comment: The backfiring sanctions regime has proven that, apart from the West, much of the planet intends to continue doing business with Russia, including some of those nations that previously followed Western diktats.
© privateMikhail Grigoriev is Director of consultancy company Gecon and has been represented in key government bodies on Arctic development.
"I get the impression that this is nothing but a play staged by state officials," he underlines.
Comment: Russia has some of the largest reserves of natural resources on the planet, and the ability to access and trade it; if it weren't the establishment probably wouldn't view it as the threat that it does.
And the war has made everything much more difficult. "The feeling among international shippers and traders is that everything that goes through Russia now is like acid," he says.
Comment: As of right now there are certain issues, such as shipping companies refusing to provide insurance for cargo that involves Russia, however this is likely to change soon enough as stocks dwindle and governments have to choose between submission to the West and upheaval at home.
Grigoriev is a widely respected veteran in Russian Arctic developments and has over the last two decades worked comprehensively with issues of transportation and natural resources extraction in the region.
He was skeptical to the plans of Dmitry Bosov and his company Vostokugol to extract more than 30 million tons of coal from the Taymyr Peninsula and export it through Arctic waters. Similarly he is today skeptical to the plans of Rosneft to produce more than 100 million tons of oil per year as part of its project Vostok Oil.
Rosneft will hardly be able to build a sufficient number of ice-class tankers to reach its much-announced plans, he argues.
He has a similarly lack of confidence in Novatek and its plans for the Arctic LNG 2. According to Grigoriev, the outlined LNG production volumes are far too optimistic. The second and third trains in the project are likely to face delays as foreign technology need to be replaced by Russian. Operational adjustments are needed, and this will require both time and money, he explains.
Comment: There's a global energy crisis; whether Russia achieves its forecast volumes or not is hardly the point, because what is clear is that Russia, along with other advanced nations will do everything within their power - such as China's expertise in railway construction - to make it happen.
Mikhail Grigoriev is far from the only expert questioning the credibility of plans for the Northern Sea Route.
U.S researcher and former Coast Guard officer Lawson W. Brigham has great doubts that the NSR ever will become a significant international trade route for shipping and also argues that ongoing energy transition might ultimately reduce demand for Russia's commodities from the region.
Comment: Hilarious.
Also Norwegian researcher Arild Moe has doubts about the Russian Arctic ambitions.
According to Moe, the realism of Russia's plans could be questioned already in 2020 when a Strategy document for the NSR was issued.
"Neither then, nor now is the plan fully financed. It requires very substantial investment from commercial actors," the researcher from the Fridtjof Nansen Institute says to the Barents Observer.
"The government pretends that nothing has happened that could change the outlook. But obviously, factors beyond the government's control are impacting developments. They include technology sanctions that will delay projects, particularly LNG, but also limitations on market access," he underlines and adds that investment risks in the Russian Arctic now are regarded as higher than before.
That includes investments in ships specially designed for operations on the Northern Sea Route, Moe explains.
Meanwhile, the ice-free season is soon approaching in the area. Maps from the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute show that large parts of the route by Mid-August had open waters.
Comment: As noted in the first link, these 'ice-free' areas are shrinking: Largest summer sea ice extent since 2008 traps arctic ships - Coldest July airmass in 70 years blows through the Bering Strait
A rapidly increasing number of ships are shuttling through the area. But this year, they are almost exclusively Russian.
According to data from the Northern Sea Route Administration, a unit operated by nuclear power company Rosatom, no European, American or Chinese ship has this year applied for entry into the area.
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