The “green” navigable artery. The Northern Sea Route is safer and has a number of advantages

The Northern Sea Route can become an international environmentally friendly route for transportation of cargoes, where greenhouse gas emissions will be minimal. It can also make a real contribution to improvement of energy balances of Europe and Asia. This is the opinion of the ambassador-at-large for international cooperation in the Arctic of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nikolay Korchunov.

“The Northern Sea Route has all the prerequisites to become a global “green” navigable artery, since the smaller amount of fuel and resources is spent for transportation of goods from Europe to Asia and back, and, accordingly, the carbon footprint is less than at transportation through the Suez Canal”, said Korchunov, whose words are given in the materials for the eighth International meeting of the Arctic Council member states being held in Russia under the aegis of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.

The diplomat adds that nuclear-powered icebreakers do not give emissions, and there were no cases of accidents with them, as RIA Novosti reports. In addition, Russia has extensive experience in their construction and operation. Our country has the world’s only nuclear-powered icebreaker fleet, which is 60 years old this year. In addition, icebreakers operating on environmentally friendly liquefied natural gas are now being input to operation.

“Development of the Northern Sea Route is focused largely on export of liquefied natural gas and will make a real contribution to improvement of energy balances of Europe and Asia”, Korchunov underlined.

In his opinion, the Northern Sea Route allows strengthening not only diversification of deliveries of energy carriers, increasing energy security of the regions, but also transport security, has fewer political vulnerabilities than the southern routes running through the troubled regions.