Trends of Opening and Closing date for Navigation on the Northern Sea Route in the Light of Changes in Ice Cover on the Seas of the Siberian Shelf in the Years 2008-2022

A.A. Marsz ¹

, T. Pastusiak ²

, A. Styszyńska ¹

¹ Association of Polish Climatologists, Poland
² Gdynia Maritime University, Gdynia, Poland

DOI: 10.12716/1001.18.03.01

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ABSTRACT: The Northern Sea Route (NSR) is a seasonal route. Its use by merchant ships that are not structurally adapted to navigation in heavy ice makes sense when it is free of ice along its entire length and can be used without the costly assistance of icebreakers. In the paper, ice cover maps were analyzed. The number of the Julian day of the year was determined on the first day on which the transit shipping season began, on the last day of the year after which this season ended, and the length of the ice-free period along the whole NSR was calculated. The analysis was carried out for the eastern and western parts of the NSR. Despite the high inter-year variability of the opening and closing times of the transit shipping season, it is possible, 2-3 months in advance, to obtain approximate information about the conditions of "ice-free" navigation on this route. For this purpose, average monthly sea ice extent of the Kara Sea in May of a given year should be used.

KEYWORDS: Safety at Sea, Arctic Navigation, Ice Navigation, Ice Covered Area, Arctic Shelf, Northern Sea Route (NSR), Arctic Shipping, Siberian Shelf

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Citation note:

Marsz A.A., Pastusiak T., Styszyńska A.: Trends of Opening and Closing date for Navigation on the Northern Sea Route in the Light of Changes in Ice Cover on the Seas of the Siberian Shelf in the Years 2008-2022. TransNav, the International Journal on Marine Navigation and Safety of Sea Transportation, Vol. 18, No. 3, doi:10.12716/1001.18.03.01, pp. 487-492, 2024

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