From the USSR to the polar silk road: the rise of the strategic Russian Arctic port range

Application of the IMO taxonomy on casualty investigation: Analysis of 20 years of marine accidents along the North-East Passage

“…Between 2013 and 2019, a 75% increase has been observed in the distance sailed by ships in the Arctic Ocean (PAME, 2020). Moreover, maritime shipping in the NEP have substantially grown since 2010 (Faury et al, 2021), and notably thanks to Russia encouraging investments along its shores (Staalesen, 2018;Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, 2010;Russian Government, 2020. If the maritime activities are diversified (Faury et al, 2021;Marchenko et al, 2018;AMSA 2009), bulk trade is dominant (Gunnarsson, 2021) with more heavy parcels (Rigot-Muller et al, 2022).…”

The role of polarseaworthiness in shipping planning for infrastructure projects in the Arctic: The case of Yamal LNG plant

“…The NSR has been analyzed in terms of feasibility and economic relevance for bulk shipping (Cariou and Faury, 2015), for oil shipping (Faury and Cariou, 2016;Theocharis et al, 2019) and for container shipping by Sun and Zheng (2016), Zhao et al (2016), Zhang et al (2016aZhang et al ( , 2016b, Xu et al (2018), Lin and Chang (2018), Zeng et al (2020) and Lasserre (2014). As explained by the latter and Theocharis et al (2018), most of the analysis deals with the container transportation whereas the main flows concern bulk carriage (Li et al, 2020;Faury et al, 2021). Lavissiere et al (2020) have recently underlined five research areas on Arctic shipping that invite scholars' investigation.…”

“…The development of the Arctic shore is of utmost importance for Russia for both economic and geopolitical reasons. Economically, the Russian Arctic constitutes a tank of hydrocarbons and rare earth minerals (Faury et al, 2021) that benefits from promising shipping lanes, especially the Northern Sea Route (NSR) via the Bering Strait, that allows a 40% potential shortcut between Asia and Europe (e. g. Lasserre, 2014). Crude oil and gas represent the great majority of Arctic cargo flows coming from Russian ports as Sabetta or Novy (Gunnarsson, 2021).…”

“…As a major partner in the Yamal project, China also considers the exploitation and exploration of resources in the Arctic as a strategic development goal (China's Arctic Policy, 2018). Hence, the building or the maintenance of plants, ports and other infrastructures dedicated to the socio-economic development of the NSR as a shipping lane, is considered highly strategic for Russia (Faury et al, 2021;Rosmoport Report, 2013).…”

“…To reach the objective of 80 million tons by 2024 (Staalesen, 2018), some port facilities have been modernized namely Murmansk, and others have been built as Sabetta that currently represents 29.5% of the total volume shipped along the NSR (Sea News, 2020). Besides, while Sabetta is the first large project in this area personifying the strategic importance of the Arctic for Russia, it should not be the last since 15 other oil, gas, iron ore and coal projects are planned (Faury et al, 2021). Nevertheless, extreme climatic conditions and the long period of darkness complexify the management of such projects and increase their cost.…”