Perspektywy wykorzystania dla żeglugi międzynarodowej Północnej Drogi Morskiej w Arktyce
Prospects of using the Northern Sea Route in the Arctic for international navigation

Summary/Abstract: The Northern Sea Route is a shipping lane from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean along the Russian Siberian coast from the Barents Sea to the Bering Strait. Before the beginning of the 21st century it was known as the North East Passage. The idea of a possible passage connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific was fi rst put forward by Gerasimov already in 1525. The Soviet Union gradually developed the entire Northern Sea Route as an internal waterway, in support of the industrial development of its Arctic resources. This route was kept fi rmly closed to foreign vessels. This situation was changed only a few months before the Soviet Union was dissolved, when the Regulations of 1990, in force as of 1st July 1991, formally opened the Northern Sea Route to non-Russian vessels. The Russian Federation claims national jurisdiction over the Northern Sea Route in line with Article 234 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which gives coastal states the right to unilaterally adopt and enforce non-discriminatory laws and environmental regulations in their exclusive economic zones. The Russian Regulations of 1990 set out that all vessels wishing to enter the Northern Sea Route should give a notifi cation and a request for guiding through this route four months beforehand. A vessel should fulfi l special requirements and her Master should be experienced in operating a vessel in ice. It is also inspected by the Russian authorities. While 2009 was a kind of test year for a vessels sailing the entire route from Asia to Europe via the Arctic, 2010 became the breakthrough for commercial shipping along the Northern Sea Route. Sailing from Europe to Asia along the Russia’s Arctic coast takes only two thirds of the time it takes to go through the Suez Canal. The Arctic lane also has the advantage of not being terrorized by pirates off the coasts of Somalia. Taking into account all the efforts of the Russian Federation aimed at upgrading its nuclear and conventional icebreaker fl eet and the ongoing investments in the infrastructure of this route, one can put forward a thesis that the attractiveness of the Northern Sea Route for international shipping is on the rise. There are significant resources in the Arctic region with a promise of generating a good cargo for an economically viable international merchant traffi c through this waterway. Many countries, both European and Asian, in particular China, Japan and South Korea, demonstrate serious interests in the use of the Northern Sea Route. With regard to international navigation, the ice-free Arctic could dramatically change the patterns of the global trade routes.

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