Russian Military Presence Will Continue to Grow
Russia will continue to develop the Arctic and defend its interests in the region, Sputnik News reports. In a year-end address, Russia’s Northern Fleet commander Admiral Vladimir Korolev said the expanded airpower and air defense systems in the region would contribute to long-distance exercises in the Arctic in 2016.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has said that Russia does not plan to militarize the Arctic but is taking measures to ensure that it could defend the region. It is concerned about protecting its national interests in oil and gas and about the impact of terrorism on the expanding economic activities in the region, reported The Independent Barents Observer.
This past year, Moscow has been on a building spree, constructing new bases and upgrading others throughout the Arctic region. Among them was a 14,000-square meter (151,000-square foot) military complex erected on Franz Josef Land – the largest building in the Arctic. Russia also recently established a counterterrorism center in Murmansk.
Icebreaker Speeds Through Arctic Route
A Russian icebreaker has sped through the Northern Sea Route a month after the shipping season usually ends, reports the Alaska Dispatch News. The Vaygach, a nuclear-powered icebreaker, transited the route – more than 4,000km (2,200 nautical miles) – in 7.5 days in late December. The ship began near the Bering Strait on December 17 and arrived at the White Sea on December 25.
Changing sea-ice conditions helped the late-season passage, according to Walt Meier, a NASA research scientist and coauthor of NOAA’s 2015 Arctic Report Card.
Russia has said the Northern Sea Route could soon be operational year-round as sea ice melts. The shorter route could offer a faster passage between China and Europe, but it has so far failed to attract more international traffic.
Russia also has plans to build an enormous new icebreaker that could open up shipping lanes in ice-choked water up to 50m (165ft) wide. The nuclear-powered ship would be able to break through ice 4m (13ft) thick, reported The Independent Barents Observer.
Meanwhile, an American security and foreign policy expert says Canada and Russia could warm their frosty relations by developing the little-used Arctic Bridge Route, Radio Canada International reported.
The route extends from the port of Churchill, Manitoba to Murmansk and knocks more than a week off the time it typically takes to ship goods from Murmansk to North America. Instead of an average 17 days via the St. Lawrence Seaway, the alternate route takes eight days. The route is only open for four months a year, but the season could be extended as ice periods become shorter, Ian Armstrong was quoted as saying.
Major investments in infrastructure would be necessary to expand the route’s use, including road-building, expanding rail lines, modernizing ports and improving navigation support.
Recommended Reads
- Los Angeles Times: Big Oil Braced for Global Warming While It Fought Regulations
- New Scientist: Polar Wildlife Under Threat as Ice Melts and Makes Seas Brighter
- Nunatsiaq News: 2015: A Year of Sweeping Change for Nunavut
- National Geographic: See for Yourself: How Arctic Ice is Disappearing
- The Institute for 21st Century Questions: Canada, Russia and the Arctic
Top image: The Yamal is one of Russia’s powerful nuclear icebreakers, part of a fleet of 40 icebreakers that provide escort along the Northern Sea Route. (Wikimedia/Pink floyd88)