Kamchatka close to year round fish shipments along Northern Sea Route
According to Kamchatka governor Vladimir Solodov, the province’s government is working on boosting the number of voyages along the Northern Sea Route in the Arctic and it is planned that in two years’ time the cargo traffic on this route will occur all year round, reports Megafishnet.com.
Apart from large vessels, also smaller ships are to take part and the number of boat operators will also increase. In particular, as early as this year it is planned to ship some 20 KT of fish along this route linking Kamchatka and Murmansk or St. Petersburg through the Arctic Seas. If accomplished, the figure would dwarf the result of 2020 when 5.5 KT were shipped in 206 reefer containers delivered by SEVMORPUT atomic lighter carrier in one voyage.
"Kamchatka is the eastern gateway of the Northern Sea Route. For this year, we have a favorable forecast for the salmon industry while pollock supplies are being increasingly reoriented from the Chinese to the European market, and overall logistics as well as competitive delivery costs are changing for the better. This is also a very serious shift in terms of the cost of delivering goods to Kamchatka, including non-perishable food or basic necessities. As a result, the final operating cost on the route can be significantly reduced by using this delivery mechanism, " Vladimir Solodov said.
Enterprises of the fishing industry are showing increasing interest in the route. For 2021, the volume of traffic is still approximate and depends on how the situation develops. The preliminary volume, as stated by Vladimir Solodov, is about twenty thousand tons of fish — four times more than the cargo last year.
"As for the return trip loading, we need to work more actively with the regions in Northwestern Russia, which we are doing," the governor continued. — Actually, at a meeting in St. Petersburg with the Governor Alexander Belov, this issue was discussed. Similar meetings are planned with the leaders of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk regions."