Wednesday, 29 September 2010 09:41
The past few months have seen passages of several Asia-bound bulk carriers through the Northern Sea Route, including Russia's Baltika tanker and the Nordic Barents cargo ship of Denmark. Experts point to the economic feasibility of the route, which already contributes greatly to full-blown navigation between Europe and the Far East. Thus far, the route has mainly been used during the summer, experts explain, citing global warming that they say is all but sure to contribute to the prolongation of the navigation period in the Arctic in the future. As compared with the Suez Canal, the Northern Sea Route is more attractive in terms of the time and money owners of cargo ships may well save, experts contend. With more countries currently looking to expand their Arctic clout, Russia should be quick to start modernizing its coastal infrastructure in the region, pundits point out.
Subscribing to this standpoint is German Vlaskin, a Moscow-based economic expert:
"The project should be supported by the state, which ought to allocate hefty sums for the development of the Northern Sea Route, Vlaskin says. In this regard, grappling with the modernization of coastal infrastructure is a priority, he argues, adding that foreign investments into the project are just a matter of time."
In the meantime, an Atomflot spokesman signaled on Wednesday his company's readiness to add to expanding navigation in the Arctic in 2011.