Abstract
When INSROP was established some five years ago, one of its mandates was to investigate the commercial viability of using the Northern Sea Route for trading purposes. To this end, Sub-programme III set out to collect information regarding commercial operations in the NSR and possible ways in which the route could be used. A great many papers have been produced, of which only a selection can be presented here. A wide range of commercial issues have been examined, including cargo generation, energy-related trade, port development and transit cargo potential, to mention only a few. In this chapter, the focus will be on three main areas:
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NSR development and the regional economy
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cargo generation from Russia to western and eastern destinations
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the possible use of NSR for transit purposes.
Edgar Gold has written section 4.2.4, Marine Insurance. Michael Tamvakis and Alexander Granberg are jointly responsible for the rest of the chapter.
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References
For a comprehensive account of the historical development of the NSR see chapter 1 of this volume.
For a description of what the NSR is see chapter 1, subsections 1.1.1 and 1.1.2 of this volume.
The security aspects of the NSR in a historical perspective are treated in chapter 1, section 1.3.1: Role of Military Interests, and in chapter 5, section 5.1 of this volume.
For a discussion of the actual military utility of the NSR, see chapter 5, section 5.1.2. of this volume.
For a discussion of the administrative aspects see chapter 5, section 5.2 of this volume.
See section 4.2.4 Marine Insurance.
For variations in ice conditions see chapter 2, section 2.2 of this volume.
For reduction in distances see chapter 1, subsection 1.1.3 of this volume.
B. Buchan (95): ‘The Potential of The Northern Sea Route for a Regular Cargo Service’, INSROP Working Paper no. 15, 1995.
A.V. Ierusalimsky, S.M. Ponomarev & T.M. Semanova (96): ‘New Concepts of Removing Ice. Investigation of the Efficiency and Advisability to Use Non-traditional Shape of Hull Lines for Icebreakers and Icebreaking Cargo Ships of Arctic Navigation’, INSROP Working Paper no. 62, 1996.
A.V. Ierusalimsky (95): ‘New Concepts of Removing Ice: Patent Search, Generalisation and Analysis of Existing Russian Inventions’, INSROP Working Paper no. 21, 1995.
Ships older than the normative age, except for those working in more favourable ice conditions were excluded from the list.
The state of the Russian Arctic Fleet as described in this chapter is supplemented by additional information in chapters 2 and 3, sections 2.4 and 3.3 respectively, of this volume.
For a discussion of the ‘out-of area ports’ see chapter 1, subsections 1.1.1, 1.1.2 and 1.1.3 of this volume.
This is a common problem with international seaborne statistics. The only source of disaggregated seaborne statistics between maritime trade areas (rather than just countries) was the UN Maritime Transport Study. It was published annually and contained all seaborne commodity trade flows up to level 4 of the UN Maritime Trade Classification system (similar to the SITC system), for a total of 33 maritime trade areas that covered all the world. Due to its detail and scope, this publication presented data with a 3-year time lag. The publication was eventually discontinued by the UN: the last issue came out in 1990, containing detailed data for 1987.
S.I. Heimdal (95): ‘Northern Sea Route Freight Operations: Survey of Logistic Modelling’, INSROP Working Paper no. 27, 1995.
N. Isakov, A. Yakovlev, A. Nikulin, G. Serebryansky and T. Patrakova (99): ‘Potential Cargo Flow Analysis and Economic Evaluation for the Simulation Study’, INSROP Working Paper no. 139, 1999.
For a broader discussion of the societal problems of Russia see chapter 6, section 6.6 and subsections 6.6.1. and 6.6.2 of this volume.
T.R Ramsland & S. Hedels (96): ‘The NSR Transit Study (Part IV): The Economics of the NSR. A Feasibility Study of the Northern Sea Route as an Alternative to the International Shipping Market’, INSROP Working Paper no. 59, 1996.
Diana L. Torrens (94): ‘Marine Insurance for the Northern Sea Route’, INSROP Working Paper no. 1, 1994.
V.A. Musin (95): ‘Conceptual Grounds of Hull, Cargo and Shipowners’ Liability Insurance when using the Northern Seaway’, unpublished, 1995.
Edgar Gold, John A. Cantello & Peter L. Wright (96): ‘Marine Insurance for the NSR: Towards a New Risk Regime?’, INSROP Working Paper no. 46, 1996.
Aref Fakhry (96): ‘Freezing Damage to Northern Sea Route Cargo: Liability and Insurance Considerations’, INSROP Working Paper no. 72, 1996.
Edgar Gold, John A. Cantello, & Peter L. Wright (97): ‘Marine Insurance for the Northern Sea Route: The Feasibility of a New Risk Regime. Some Initial Conclusions’, INSROP Working Paper no. 85, 1997.
Ibid., Appendix I & II. It was shown that, since the work had commenced, the sub-project had made contacts with and/or presentations to: 36 major marine insurers; 18 major insurance brokers; 6 liability insurers; 8 major insurance associations; 9 shipping lines; 8 maritime law firms with expertise in Arctic shipping problems; and 13 ancillary associations corporations, based in London, New York, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Murmansk, Oslo, Tokyo, Arendal (Norway), Helsinki, Montreal and Vancouver.
See, for example, T. Armstrong (96): ‘Historical and Current Uses of the Northern Sea Route’, INSROP Working Paper no. 28, 1996.
H. Yamaguchi (96): ‘Experimental Voyage through the Northern Sea Route’, Northern Sea Route; Future and Perspective, The Proceedings of INSROP Symposium Tokyo ‘85, Ship & Ocean Foundation, Tokyo 1996.
Anders Backlund, Edgar Gold & Jari Kivela (98): ‘Using the INSROP Phase 1 Data in a Transport Evaluation Process’, INSROP Working Paper no. 95, 1998.
Valery A. Musin (98): ‘Marine Insurance for the Northern Sea Route’, INSROP Working Paper no.98, 1998.
Edgar Gold, John A. Cantello & Peter L. Wright (99): ‘Shipping and Marine Insurance on the Northern Sea Route: Conclusions 1993–1998’, INSROP Working Paper no. 124, 1999.
See M. Niini (96): ‘Experiences of Three Years of Oil Transportation in the Russian Arctic with a Western Fleet’; and A. Backlund (96): ‘Seaborne Oil and Gas Transportation from Northern Russia’, in Northern Sea Route; Future and Perspective,The Proceedings of INSROP Symposium Tokyo ‘85, Ship & Ocean Foundation, Tokyo 1996.
CanArctic Shipping Inc., of Ottawa, Canada, operates six ice-strengthened vessels.
Neste Oy (Since 1998: Fortum Oy) of Helsinki, Finland, which has operated the tankers Uikku and Lunni under Ice Class lA Super marine insurance conditions, and which now operates the Uikku in the ARCDEV project, disclosed that hull and machinery coverage operates with a much higher than normal deductible. However, that there was a choice between higher deductible or higher premium was due to the fact that there had not been any major hull damage in past operations.
Jan Lunde, former Managing Director of Unitas Marine Insurance, of Oslo, in his review of Gold, Cantello & Wright (96): ‘Marine Insurance for the NSR: Towards a New Risk Regime?’.
See Gold, Cantello & Wright (98): ‘Shipping and Marine Insurance on the Northern Sea Route’ pp.11–16.
Gold, Cantello & Wright (97): ‘Marine Insurance for the Northern Sea Route: The Feasibility of a New Risk Regime’.
Gold, Cantello & Wright (98): ‘Shipping and Marine Insurance on the Northern Sea Route’.
Details of the objectives and operations of the ARCDEV project can be found on the Internet at http://www.arcdev.neste.com.
Anthony Paul (98): ‘Digging your Way out of Recession’, Fortune, 7 September 1998, p. 18.
N. Isakov, G. Serebryansky, A. Parfenov, T. Patrakova & N. Sadofieva (97): ‘Regional Port Development Along the NSR’, INSROP Working Paper no. 87, 1997; and N. Isakov, A. Nikulin, N. Popovich & I. Sverdlov (97): ‘Marine Oil Transportation from Timan Pechora and Inland Russian Fields’, INSROP Working Paper no. 89, 1997.
N. Isakov et al. (97): ‘Regional Port Development ’
CNIIMF materials.
A.G. Granberg (95): ‘The Significance of the NSR for Regional Development in Arctic Areas of Russia’, INSROP Working Paper no. 19, 1995.
N. Isakov et al. (97): Marine Oil Transportation from Timian Pechora and Inland Russian Fields’, INSROP Working Paper no. 89, 1997.
Transport by NPS is reckoned to be cheaper for long distances than shipments by above-water transport: by several per cent during the summer navigation season; in winter almost two times lower. However, re-equipping a single ‘Akula’ may cost as much as some 700 million roubles.
N. Isakov et al. (97): ‘Regional Port Development’.
S. Hoifodt, V. Nygaard & M. Aanesen (95): ‘The Northern Sea Route and Possible Regional Consequences’, INSROP Working Paper no. 16, 1995; S. Hoifodt, V. Nygaard, M. Aanesen & G.B. Honneland (97): ‘Selected Issues on Regional Economic Development Along the Northern Sea Route’, INSROP Working Paper no. 54, 1996; and A.G. Granberg: ‘Selected Studies in Regional Economic Development along the Northern Sea Route’, INSROP Working Paper no. 74, 1997.
For the relationship between BEAR and the NSR see chapter 1, subsection 1.1.2, of this volume.
The Barents Euro-Arctic region was extended to include Oulu in Finland and Västerbotten in Sweden in 1998, hence its ‘international’ character. Because of this expansion, however, some might well question its continued functionality as an economic region.
N. Isakov et al. (97): ‘Regional Port Development’.
T. Wood & R. Martin (96): ‘Seagoing Logistics Solutions to Oilfield Material Supplies’, INSROP Working Paper no. 50, 1996.
S. Hdifodt et al. (96): ‘Selected Issues of Regional Economic Development’ and N. Isakov et al. (97): ‘Marine Oil Transportation’.
T.R. Ramsland (95): ‘Oil Product Export from North West Russia’, INSROP Working Paper no. 8, 1995.
S. Heifodt et al. (96): ‘Selected Issues of Regional Economic Development’.
T.R. Ramsland (96): ‘The Northern Sea Route and the Rivers Ob-Irtysh and Yenisey’, INSROP Working Paper no. 44, 1996.
The possibility of using production technology and transportation of gas-hydrates, produced from natural gas (‘gas-in-ice’), is also under study.
A.G. Granberg (97): ‘Selected Studies in Regional Economic Development along the Northern Sea Route’, INSROP Working Paper no. 74, 1997.
T.R Ramsland (96): ‘The Northern Sea Route and the Rivers’.
A.G. Granberg (99): ‘Cargo Forming Potential of Sakha(Yakutia), Chukot Autonomous District and other Far-Eastern Regions for the Northern Sea Route’, INSROP Working Paper 135, 1999.
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Tamvakis, M., Granberg, A.G., Gold, E. (1999). Economy and Commercial Viability. In: Østreng, W. (eds) The Natural and Societal Challenges of the Northern Sea Route. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9409-7_4
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