LNG Convoy Sets Out On Northern Sea Route - Earliest Date For This Trip On Record

[hatrack]

In the convoy that this week set out from Sabetta, the LNG terminal in Yamal, are LNG tanker “Christophe de Margerie” and icebreaker “Yamal”. It is the first voyage across the Northern Sea Route this year. The LNG tanker set out from Sabetta on the 18th of May and subsequently teamed up with the nuclear-powered icebreaker.

By the 19th May, the convoy had made it to the waters north of Dikson, data from ship tracker MarineTraffic show. It is the earliest voyage of its kind ever. In 2019, the first eastbound convoy with an LNG carrier started on the 29th June and in 2018 the first voyage set out from Sabetta on the 25th June.

The shipload of LNG is destined to Jingtang, China, and arrival is due the 11th June.

Ice conditions in the region are complicated with an up to two meter thick white sheet across major parts of Russian east Arctic waters. A solid ice sheet is covering the Vilkitsky Strait, as well as the waters south of the New Siberian Islands, ice maps from the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute show.

EDIT

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/2020/05/years-first-convoy-breaking-its-way-through-russian-arctic-ice-course-china

[captain queeg]

1. Didn't realize the amount of traffic thru the "NW Passage"

Thanks for posting. In another century it’ll be the preferred route.

[OnlinePoker]

2. This isn't the NW Passage. It's the North Sea Route along the Russian coast. n/t