A non-Russian-flagged bulk carrier is using the Northern Sea Route (NSR) as a transit trade lane for the first time ever, transporting iron ore from northern Norway to China via Arctic and Russian waters.
The transit is about one third shorter than traditional shipping routes and will save time, fuel and carbon dioxide emissions, as well as opening up new business opportunities for mining and shipping industries.
One of the world's few modern heavy ice-class bulk carriers 'Nordic Barents' will carry a cargo of iron ore concentrate via the NSR through Arctic and Russian waters to China departing from the port of Kirkenes in northern Norway in early September.
The ship will load 41,000 tonnes before setting course for China. Tschudi Shipping through its subsidiary Tschudi Arctic Transit and Nordic Bulk Carriers, working with Russian maritime authorities, are the leading pioneers behind the Nordic-Russian partner-ship and the historic northern route.
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"The Northern Sea Route can be of great importance for the companies in northern Scandinavia and on the Kola Peninsula which ship oil, gas, minerals and other raw materials to the increasingly important Asian markets," said Felix H. Tschudi, Chairman of the Norwegian Tschudi Shipping Company and the largest shareholder of Northern Iron, the Australian ASX-listed owner of the Sydvaranger iron ore mine.
The Northern Sea Route to China across the Arctic is shorter than routes through the Suez Canal. According to the partners, the route has the potential to generate significant savings for both cargo and ship owners, and in addition during this voyage there is no threat of piracy.
The fuels savings alone add up to approximately US$180,000, according to Christian Bonfils, managing director of Nordic Bulk.
Russian authorities, the Northern Sea Route Administration under the Ministry of Transportation and Rosatomflot, the operator of the Russian national icebreaking fleet, have given the project their first-ever approval for a foreign-flagged vessel to ship a cargo in transit from a foreign port to a foreign port through Russian waters.
Russian icebreakers operated by Rosatomflot will escort 'Nordic Barents' on its journey.
"Nordic Barents' is a so called ice-class 1a ship," explains Christian Bonfils, managing director at Nordic Bulk, the ship's commercial operator.
"This is the highest conventional ice-class, and it was the only ship classification that the Russian authorities would allow to perform this transit."
The parties estimate that the Northern Sea Route will be open for transit voyages for two to four months per year during the early autumn.