THE NORTHERN SEA ROUTE: PRESENT CONDITION AND DEVELIPMENT PROSPECTS

Abstract

The Northern Sea Route (NSR) represents a serious alternative to traditional so-called «southern» sea transportation routes passing through the Suez Canal. Data on the present and on most optimistic prospective scopes of transportation over NSR for different types of goods are presented in the article. Among main factors working for the optimistic perspective with respect of NSR there are measurements stipulated in several Russian governmental decrees, global rise in temperature and feasibility to develop natural resources abundantly available in the arctic areas of Russia. Still, there are negative factors such as the need of massive investment to transportation means and to local infrastructure, risks associated with the probability of particularly severe arctic natural phenomena and provision for safety in many aspects.