Russian warships from the Northern Fleet faced significant challenges from sea ice while navigating the Northern Sea Route, despite Russia's development of naval icebreakers.
Loaded with up to 38,000 tons of oil, the 245 meter long tanker Shturman Skuratov makes this year's first transit shipment on the Northern Sea Route. Despite major concentrations of sea-ice, the tanker sails without icebreaker assistance.
Despite rapidly freezing Arctic waters, Moscow continues to send more than 20 years old ships without ice class to the Northern Sea Route. 'They are compromising security,' a Norwegian professor in ice navigation says.
Three weeks after it got stuck in Arctic sea-ice, the Sparta-3 makes it into open waters. The situation on board had been strained as reserves of fuel and water shrunk to low levels and the crew had to fight hard with icing. The military transport vessel did not have permission for sailing in the area.
For nearly three decades, the Arctic Council has been a successful example of post-Cold War cooperation. However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to a freezing of relations; what risks do the breakdown of Arctic collaboration pose to the region?
Observations From Members 