India accounts for 35% of cargo handled by Russia’s Arctic Murmansk port this year

Source: The post is based on the article “India accounts for 35% of cargo handled by Russia’s Arctic Murmansk port this year”  published in The Hindu on 16th August 2023.

What is the News?

India’s connection with Russia’s Arctic region has been growing, with a significant portion of cargo handled by the Murmansk port.

In the first seven months of 2023, Murmansk port handled 8 million tonnes of cargo, and 35% of this was from India, primarily coal destined for India’s east coast.

Where is Murmansk port?

Murmansk port is one of the largest ice-free ports in Russia. It is located on the Kola Peninsula at the coast of Barents Sea.

The port ranks fourth in Russia in terms of processed goods and is the second-largest port in northwest Russia (after the port of St. Petersburg). 

Where is the Kola Peninsula?

Kola Peninsula is a peninsula in the extreme northwest of Russia and one of the largest peninsulas of Europe.

The peninsula lies almost completely inside the Arctic Circle and is bordered by the Barents Sea to the north and by the White Sea to the east and southeast.

Where is the Barents Sea?

Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territorial waters.

Where is the Northern Sea Route(NSR)?

The Northern Sea Route (NSR) connects the eastern and western parts of the Arctic Ocean.

It is the shortest shipping route connecting the western part of Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific region.

For instance, Suez Canal route between Europe and Asia has a distance of 21,000 kilometres, the NSR has a distance of 13,000 kilometers, reducing the to and fro sailing time from one month to less than two weeks between Europe and Asia.

But there are challenges in navigating the NSR. The route includes the seas of the Arctic Ocean [Kara, Laptev, East Siberian and Chukchi] which remain icebound during most parts of the year.