Record cargo transported along NSR in 2023

In 2023, the cargo transportation along the Northern Sea Route (NSR) totaled 36.254 million tons which is more than 250 thousand tons above the target set in the “Development of the Northern Sea Route”. The Russian federal project is being implemented under Rosatom’s supervision.

Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev said that the cargo transportation record was set even before the end of the year thanks to partner companies that had found an opportunity to redirect their cargo from west to east.  

The year 2023 saw intensified transit traffic of 2 million 129 thousand tons. “Transit cargo shipping evidences the NSR popularity, therefore its intensification from the maritime logistics point of view is the most important result,” noted Vladimir Panov, Rosatom Special Representative for the Arctic development.

It is also worth noting the growing interest of foreign shipping companies in the Northern Sea Route. In 2023, the Maritime Operations Headquarters of the NSR General Administration FSBI organized escort and support for voyages for regular service of container shipping between China and Russia along the NSR.

In total, they issued 1218 permits (for comparison, 1163 permits were issued in 2022) for navigation in the waters of the Northern Sea Route, including 115 permits for foreign companies (in 2022, there were 55 permits for foreign companies) in 2023. There were 80 transit voyages along the NSR (in 2022, there were 47 transit voyages). In addition, there were 3 round regular domestic voyages along the Northern Sea Route from the northwestern part of Russia to the regions of the Far East in 2023.

The Northern Sea Route (NSR) is the shortest shipping route connecting the western part of Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific region. The goal of the “Development of the Northern Sea Route” federal project is to create infrastructure to facilitate the increase in cargo shipping as well as in the total capacity of seaports.