Northern Sea Route

This article is about a Russian domestic sea route. For the transoceanic route, of which the Northern Sea Route is a subset, see Northeast Passage.

Map of the Arctic region showing the Northern Sea Route, in the context of the Northeast Passage, and Northwest Passage

The Northern Sea Route (Russian: Се́верный морско́й путь, Severnyy morskoy put, shortened to Севморпуть, Sevmorput) is a shipping lane officially defined by Russian legislation from the Kara Sea to the Pacific Ocean specifically running along the Russian Arctic coast from Kara Gates strait between the Barents Sea and the Kara Sea, along Siberia, to the Bering Strait. The entire route lies in Arctic waters and within Russia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Parts are free of ice for only two months per year. Before the beginning of the 20th century it was called the Northeast Passage, and is still sometimes referred to by that name.

While the Northeast Passage includes all the East Arctic seas and connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the Northern Sea Route does not include the Barents Sea, and it therefore does not reach the Atlantic.

History

Further information: Northeast Passage § History

See also

• Arctic shipping routes
• Arctic Bridge
• Arctic cooperation and politics
• Arctic policy of Russia
• David Melgueiro
• List of Russian explorers
• Northwest Passage
• Territorial claims in the Arctic
• Transpolar Sea Route

External links

• Rules of navigation in the water area of the Northern Sea Route Ministry of Transport of Russia, January 17, 2013
• International Northern Sea Route Programme
• Russian State Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic, The discovery and history of exploration of the Northern Sea Route
• Pictures - during NE passage
• Tanker Vladimir Tikhonov Completes Successful Northern Sea Route Transit in a Week
• Armstrong, Terence. The Northern Sea Route (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1952)
• Belov, M. I. Istoriia otkrytiia i osveniia Severnogo Morskogo Puti, 4 vols. (Leningrad, 1956–1969)
• Horensma, Piers. The Soviet Arctic (London: Routledge, 1991)
• McCannon, John. Red Arctic (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998)
• Konyshev, Valery & Sergunin, Alexander: Is Russia a revisionist military power in the Arctic? Defense & Security Analysis, September 2014.
• Konyshev, Valery & Sergunin, Alexander. Russia in search of its Arctic strategy: between hard and soft power? Polar Journal, April 2014.
• Konyshev, Valery & Sergunin, Alexander: Russia's Policies on the Territorial Disputes in the Arctic Journal of International Relations and Foreign Policy, March 2014, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 55–83.