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Sea Ice Occurring on the Seas of the Russian Arctic and Its Impact on Navigating the Northern Sea Route

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The Northern Sea Route as a Shipping Lane

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Abstract

This chapter discusses sea ice occurring in the seas of the Russian Arctic and its impact on navigation in this region. The seas crossed by the Northern Sea Route freeze every year. The extent of sea ice, its thickness and concentration, however, vary both within a given year and from year to year. Ice concentration, thickness and horizontal dimensions of ice floes are considered to be the most common factors affecting the speed of a vessel navigating in ice. Ice compaction and ice hummocks count among the impediments which are likely to make navigation impossible. Therefore, the regions where these phenomena occur are to be avoided. The above-mentioned factors are discussed from the point of view of their impact on a vessel’s capability to navigate in ice. The chapter presents an analysis of average annual changes in ice cover in the seas of the Russian Arctic, average dates of its formation and disintegration. The average ice drift in the Arctic Ocean reflects the behaviour of surface currents. The chapter discusses general and local ice drift, taking into account its direction, speed and the dangers it causes. It also discusses the phenomenon of flaw polynyas and ice massifs, the state of ice disintegration, ice and snow thickness, and their spatial distribution. An analysis of long-term ice cover changes in particular seas of the Russian Arctic suggests that it depends on a number of periodic and aperiodic factors. The chapter discusses ice conditions likely to occur in particular months between July and November and provides information on the duration of ice-free season and the estimated risk to navigation in particular seas. The analysis indicates that bottlenecks are caused on route segments crossing the Laptev and East Siberian Seas. The chapter contains information on the likelihood of severe and lighter ice conditions occurring at the same time in different seas. Results of an analysis of changes in the number of ice-free days taking place over time and the trends they follow imply that further improvement of ice conditions in the eastern part of the NSR is far from certain.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Navigation, Gdynia Maritime University, Gdynia, Poland

    Tadeusz Pastusiak

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  1. Tadeusz Pastusiak
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Pastusiak, T. (2016). Sea Ice Occurring on the Seas of the Russian Arctic and Its Impact on Navigating the Northern Sea Route. In: The Northern Sea Route as a Shipping Lane. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41834-6_4

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