Print

Map of the Arctic Shipping Routes

The Ministry Transport in Russia has introduced a new bill regarding "state regulation of merchant shipping in the waters of the Northern Sea Route. The website of the Ministry reads that Minister of Transport, Sergey Aristov, introduced the bill in Duma.

This will be the first law on the sea route, adding to international law like UNCLOS. Read more about shipping governance here and see the UNCLOS agreement here.

Russia plans to introduce new specialized organizations for this purpose. Transport operators will have the same access to the Northern Sea Route according to the bill which has articles on navigation, environmental protection and icebreaker assistance.

This will ensure modern infrastructure that provides safe navigation of vessels in the Arctic seas.

The bill has not been passed yet but the laws will take effect as soon as possible.

The Northern Sea Route is in Russian waters, all the way from Murmansk to the Bering Strait.

Sources: BarentsObserver and Ministry of Transport website.