International Traffic Along Russia’s Northern Sea Route Remains Low
More cargo was transported along the Northern Sea Route this year, but most of it has come from domestic traffic shuttling goods within the Russian territory, reports High North News.
The Northern Sea Route runs along the Russian coast from the Kara Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Russia has previously said that it would prioritize the development of the Northern Sea Route as an alternate path for ships travelling between Asian and European markets.
According to figures released by Russian officials this month, 5.15 million tons of cargo travelled along the route in 2015, a 60 percent increase over the previous year. The government granted 708 permits for vessels to operate along the route, but less than 10 percent were for vessels flying non-Russian flags.
International traffic along the Northern Sea Route decreased to 39,000 tons in 2015. It had reached a high of 1.36 million tons in 2013, according to a 2014 report by the Arctic Institute. Only 17 ships travelled the full length of the route this year, a steep decline from 71 transits in 2013. The drop in oil and bunker fuel prices are partially behind the downward trend, offsetting the advantages shipping companies might have gained by taking the shorter route.
Shell Fights and Norway Suffers
Royal Dutch Shell dropped its offshore drilling plans in Alaska this fall, but the company is fighting to extend its leases. Offshore drilling leases in the Arctic are valid for about 10 years, and Shell’s are set to expire in 2017 and 2020, according to The Hill.
Shell has spent nine years and more than $7 billion searching for oil and gas in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. The federal government had already decided not to extend the leases because the company did not have plans for further exploration, Alaska Public Radio reported. Shell drilled one exploratory well this past summer, but did not find enough oil and gas to continue.
Norwegian oil company Statoil ASA said last month it would drop the leases it held in the U.S. Arctic. Fossil fuel investments in Norway have sunk to the lowest levels in 15 years as the price of oil has dropped, Bloomberg reports. The price of Brent crude has slumped 33 percent this year. Statoil has said that it would offer severance packages to reduce its full-time workforce by 1,100 to 1,500 employees. Norway has also seen the krone weaken against the U.S. dollar.
The outcome of the U.N. climate talks in Paris and tumbling oil prices have encouraged Norway’s oil fund to seek permission from the government to invest in green infrastructure, such as wind turbines and solar energy parks, The Local reported.
Tourism to Face New Rules in Nunavut
New tourism legislation should boost the benefits for communities and the tourism industry in Nunavut, Canada, says a report completed for the territorial government.
The Nunatsiaq News reports that consultations with communities and representatives from the travel industry produced a set of recommendations for the government to consider as it updates its Travel and Tourism Act. The new legislation will be introduced in the spring of 2016.
The report’s authors propose that the government place limits on the number of cruise ship passengers visiting a community at one time, as well as taxing cruise-ship passengers and imparting a code of conduct upon visitors.
Tourism operators voiced their concerns over safety and security issues in the Northwest Passage earlier this year. As the Northwest Passage becomes increasingly navigable, small communities worry they will be overrun by tourists. The Crystal Serenity cruise ship carrying 665 crew and 1,070 passengers plans to travel from Anchorage to New York through the Northwest Passage in September and August 2016, including a stop in Cambridge Bay, a community of 1,477 people on Victoria Island.
Recommended Reads
- Wilson Center: Making Nunavut a Full Partner in Canadian Confederation
- Outside: Who Controls Alaska’s Waterways?
- High Country News: Five New Studies That Change Our Understanding of Permafrost
Top image: Royal Dutch Shell dropped its Alaska offshore drilling plans earlier this year, but is fighting to extend its leases. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)