Russia’s Arctic Shipping Route Gets Busy With Oil Traffic to China
- Two tankers are heading east to China, one is on its way home
- Russia’s small fleet of ice breakers may be in high demand
The NS Arctic.
Photographer: D. Lobusov/MarineTrafficThis article is for subscribers only.
Three oil tankers will meet up shortly in the Arctic waters of the Kara Sea, signaling that the navigation season along Russia’s Northern Sea Route is open for business.
Two Aframax tankers, each hauling about 730,000 barrels of Urals crude from the Baltic ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga, are heading east to Rizhao in China. A third similar-sized ship, sailing in ballast, is coming in the opposite direction, having started its latest voyage from the Chinese port of Yinkou, according to vessel-tracking data monitored by Bloomberg.