India plans first cargo ship voyage along Northern Sea Route next year

India plans to send its first cargo ship along the Northern Sea Route (NSR) next year, with Russia’s Arctic region of Arkhangelsk holding talks with New Delhi to leverage the economic potential of the route.

For India, the NSR, also known as the Arctic Route, is truly starting to take on a new dimension, said Aleksandr Tsybulsky, the governor of Arkhangelsk region. He was speaking to RT, the state-funded news television network, on the sidelines of the ‘Arctic – Regions’ Forum last week, where India was a key partner.

Tsybulsky said India sees “huge possibilities” in utilising the route. Notably, Russia’s Arctic region has huge deposits of hydrocarbons including LNG besides other natural resources such as nickel, copper, platinum, palladium, and rare earth elements.

The opportunities being discussed between India and Arkhangelsk include “building ships for India at shipyards in the Arkhangelsk region, to using our port facilities to deliver cargo from India, and to export cargo to India, and technological options such as placing and locating production around the ports of the Arkhangelsk Region,” Tsybulsky told RT.

Joint secretary in the Indian Shipping Ministry S. Venkatesapathy also participated in the Forum.

Located on Russia’s Arctic coast, the city of the same name sits on the Northern Dvina river and is a major cargo hub linked to the NSR.

The NSR is a 5,600-km sea passage that runs through Russia’s Arctic region. It is covered by thick ice for most part of the year, but climate change and receding sea ice are widening the annual window for navigation. Specialised ice-strengthened ships are required to navigate the NSR. Russia’s nuclear major Rosatom which makes such vessels will be signing a MoU with India for the NSR.

The route could save Indian vessels up to 40% in distance and about two weeks of travel time to eastern and northern Europe, compared to traditional routes through the Suez Canal, which are facing disruptions from the Iran war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said Moscow was seeing “growing interest” from countries including China and India, wanting to exploit the economic opportunities offered by the NSR.

Russia is investing heavily in the infrastructure of the Arctic route, and Moscow is satisfied with the attention from its global partners, Russian deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko said at the Forum last week.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs said last Friday that India has multifaceted ties with Russia including connectivity initiatives.

The Chennai-Vladivostok corridor – also known as the Eastern Maritime Corridor (EMC) – has seen a 70% jump in cargo movement, and the NSR will further contribute to India-Russia trade.