Russia has authorized unreinforced oil tankers to transit its icy Northern Sea Route for the first time, prompting warnings that Moscow faces the risk of a catastrophic Arctic oil spill as it reroutes sanctions-hit energy exports to Asia.
Two tankers were approved in August for the 3,500-mile voyage along Russia’s northern coast, although they are not so-called “ice-class” tankers that are hardened to withstand freezing conditions.
The thin-hulled vessels sailed to China in early September, navigating one of the most dangerous ice passages on Earth for the first time and were far ill-equipped to deal with an oil spill.
“Sea ice is difficult to predict and routes are difficult to maintain,” said Charlie Cronick of Greenpeace UK. “Using non-ice-class tankers makes the already high likelihood of an accident even more severe.”
In recent years, Moscow has welcomed the Northern Sea Route, which lies entirely within Arctic waters, arguing that it provides a shorter route to China. Warmer temperatures in the summer have opened up the route, which is much faster than normal navigation through the Suez Canal.
Authorizing non-ice-class tankers to sail the route comes as Western sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine hurt Moscow’s ability to get oil to market. The company has been using the Northern Sea Route more frequently to shorten sailing times to Asian markets.
The typical journey from the northern Russian port of Primorsk to China via the Suez Canal takes 45 days; using the Northern Sea Route can shorten this by 10 days. Viktor Katona, chief crude oil analyst at Kpler, said Russia could save $500,000 per voyage on fuel alone.
In 2022, only one tanker – the reinforced Vasily Dinkov – will transport Russian crude oil to China via this route. However, 10 ice-class tankers will be heading to China by 2023, according to Kpler’s ship tracking data. A reinforced LNG tanker also completed its journey this week.
Since 2020, unreinforced vessels may be used on this route. Rosatom, the Russian state nuclear energy company that oversees the Northern Sea Route, allows non-ice-class ships to sail during the summer and autumn window from July to mid-November. Independently or, in lighter icing conditions, escorted by an icebreaker.
Rosatom told the Financial Times that “improved sailing conditions in the summer and autumn have allowed non-ice-class ships to operate safely,” adding that all ships have been subject to strict inspections. It said environmental considerations “have been and remain Rosatom’s top priority”.
Shipping experts say unreinforced tankers could theoretically sail the Northern Sea Route during September and October, the period when ice is at its thinnest after warm summers. But there is still a significant risk, as ice floes can trap ships and potentially crush non-reinforced hulls.
Sigurd Enge, senior adviser on shipping and Arctic issues at environmental group Bellona, said the risk was “pretty extreme”. . . The northern route in summer is not necessarily an easy journey. ”
Driven by currents and winds, ice movement there is highly unpredictable. When there is less ice, waves are higher, creating other risks.
In late July this year, many ice-class ships faced sea ice challenges that exceeded the allowable range of their ice classes and had to wait for icebreaker escort in the East Siberian Sea.
Mart Humpert, a reporter for High North News magazine who specializes in reporting on the Arctic, said the shipments showed Russia’s “desperation” to sell its oil.
“I think this is a clear sign that for Russia, selling energy at all costs trumps protecting the environment,” Humpert said. He first reported on the use of an oil tanker named “Leonid Loza”.
“The nexus of climate change and geopolitics has created this situation. Russia is desperate to get its oil to the market.”
One of the two non-reinforced tankers, the NS Bravo, was en route to the eastern Chinese port of Rizhao carrying about 1 million barrels of oil.
The Leonid Loza was carrying an equal amount of oil to eastern China and left the port of Murmansk on September 9, six days after the NS Bravo, according to satellite ship tracking data.
Leonid Loza and NS Bravo are 12 and 13 years old respectively. The inspection report shows that Russian officials at Taman Port raised concerns about the NS Bravo in December 2020, citing concerns about safety precautions and deck corrosion.
All tankers built since 1995 have double hulls to reduce the risk of leaks. But if the hull is crushed or cracked, leaks can still occur.
Svlook
