Arctic waters continue to open to shipping

Delivery of LNG module via Northern Sea Route shows potential for year-round LNG deliveries, Novatek says

The delivery of a module for Russian gas firm Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 project in Russia’s far north marks another milestone for the opening up of the Northern Sea Route (NSR). Ice-class carrier the Audax transported the module from Tianjin in China to Murmansk this month with nuclear icebreaker support. It was “unique” for a vessel of that size to transit the entire NSR at this time of year, according to Novatek. And despite “challenging ice conditions”, the voyage’s success “testifies to the possibility of year-round LNG deliveries via the NSR to the Asia-Pacific region”, Novatek says. NSR voyages typically have to be completed between July and November, but are considerably quicker than oth