Mapping the seafloor to meet challenges of the Northern Sea Route | Polarjournal
The Northern Sea Route as defined by Russia comprises the Arctic waters between Cape Zhelanya on Novaya Zemlya in the east and Cape Dezhnev in the west. Most of the seafloor aerea is subject to massive changes due to inflow of sediments by the huge Russian rivers. This popses substantial threats to shipping. Map: Arctic.ru

The Northern Sea Route (NSR) stretches from Novaya Zemlya in the west to the Bering Strait in the east, and partly through narrow and freezing straits along the Russian Arctic coast. It is a separate part of the Northeast Passage that runs all the way through the Barents Sea to Europe westwardly. The NSR is the shortest maritime passage connecting Europe with Russia’s Far East regions and Asia. Basically, the NSR is not a line, it is a series of different sailing lanes, and ice conditions at any one time and place will decide the sailing course to be set.

Today the NSR is mostly used for transporting oil and gas, however freight shipping plays an important role here as well. However, this route is not an easily navigable waterway. Apart from ice conditions, unknown oceanographic features such as underwater mounds and currents are posing additional threats to shipping. Thus, surveys are expected to be carried out in waters along the Northern Sea Route to fill gaps in current hydrographic coverage in the passage, as long as modern bathymetric data is still sparse or non-existent in certain locations.

The US Coast Guard ship “Healy” had crossed the Northwest Passage this year in order to map parts of the seafloor. Image: USCG

The NSR and the Arctic Ocean, among other locations, represent the most unexplored on Earth. The first time in the history of the whole route for one navigation was the overpass by the expedition led by Otto Schmidt on the “Sibiryakov” icebreaker in 1932. Ever since, ships have been crossing the whole distance of the NSR on a regular basis. In the Soviet period, using its survey vessels, the Hydrographic Service spearheaded comprehensive studies of large areas of the Arctic Ocean. Modern Russia inherited virtually all of a huge legacy Soviet hydrographic fleet and data collected by Soviet scientists. However, new complex surveys to map seafloor were not a priority after the Soviet Union collapse.

Over the years, similar hydrographic surveys have been conducted in the Northwest Passage by Canada in anticipation of intensified ship traffic. The reasons are numerous Pingo-Like-Features (PLFs), which are known to rise abruptly from an otherwise featureless seabed, some to within 15 metres of the surface of the Beaufort Sea.

The Lena Delta is one of the largest deltas in the world and lies along the Russian Arctic coast in the Sakha region (left). The river itself transports massive amounts of sediments into the Arctic Ocean and thereby alters the properties of the seafloor (red part, right). Such changes need to be mapped constantly. Images: NASA Goddard Space Center (left), ESA (right)

Northern rivers drain into the Arctic Ocean and transport a lot of sediments, thereby constantly changing the seabed landscape. It is crucial to study and monitor these natural changes regularly to guarantee safe navigational depths in the region, as soon as intense river discharges induce mud export to the Arctic seas. Detailed surveys are required for all the areas because sediment import strongly depends on the hydrological cycle and may differ from an estuary to another.

Mapping the Arctic Ocean is a project initiated in 1997 by the International Hydrographic Organization. Satellites as well as in-situ measurements have rendered a more concise picture of what lies beneath the cold waters. However, there are still important gaps to fill. Map: GEBCO

While there are published charts whose physical limits cover both the Canadian Northwest Passage and the Russian Northern Sea Route, the quality of the underlying data varies widely from modern, high resolution hydrographic surveys to no sounding information in some areas. Russia is a part of the project called the International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean (IBCAO) initiated in 1997. In 2017, IBCAO merged its efforts with the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO-Seabed 2030 Project, with the goal of mapping the global seafloor by 2030. Hopefully participation in these projects will allow conducting significant hydrographic research along the NSR as well. Russia is an all-member state of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) whose mission “is to facilitate the provision of adequate and timely hydrographic information for worldwide marine navigation.”

This conceptual design shows the latest hydrographical pilot vessel of the Arc7 ice class to lead the survey along the NSR. It is one of the planned Russian research vessels for the Hydrographic Enterprise, a ROSATOM subsidiary. Image: Rosatom

According to the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia and Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yuri Trutnev, the survey covering 430,000 km of seabed relief is planned to be carried out along the NSR by 2025. By the end of 2021, 78,500 km should be covered by the survey. From 2022 to 2025, scientists will work in the Arctic waters near the Krasnoyarsk Region, the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region, and Chukotka Region. The survey is carried out by the Hydrographic Enterprise, the ROSATOM subsidiary. Three active vessels will be upgraded according to the needs of scientists. A launch of four new research vessels is expected in 2021: two hydrographic boats (project E35.G) and two ice-3 class buoy-maintenance vessels (project BLV03). Also, a building of a prototype ice-class hydrographic buoy-maintenance vessel of the Arc7 project is planned. All vessels will be equipped with the multi-beam echo-sounders and side-scanning sonars. In September 2021, ROSATOM signed a cooperation agreement on development of the Great Northern Sea Route with the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic with the aim of enabling sustainable activities in the region.

Last winter, the LNG vessel “Christophe de Marguerie” was the first cargo vessel to successfully transit the NSR in winter with the help of the nuclear icebreaker “50 Years of Victory”. The NSR should turn into a major trade route and alternative to the Suez route. Image: Novatek

Recently, at the request of the state-owned Hydrographic Enterprise, a survey on development of the system of the navigational and hydrographic support of the NSR with due regard to current requirements of the safety of traffic on the open seas has been made. Development plans and prospects through 2035 include upgrading of navigational equipment and use of an optimal number of GLONASS/GPS control-correcting stations for safe navigation along the NSR. A new approach will allow deviation from navigational and hydrographic support of the NSR, designed in the 1960-70s. The ports of Dikson, Tiksi and Pevek are included in the development plan.

International use of the NSR began in 2010. It is expected that the transport route will be used intensively in the foreseeable future. In any case, the international shipping industry will conclude if the NSR is safe enough while choosing between available routes.

Dr. Ekaterina Uryupova is a Visiting Fellow at the Arctic Institute. She has been working in the polar regions as a researcher and a polar guide. Her areas of expertise revolve around climate change, marine ecosystems, fisheries, and environmental policy.

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