Context: India accounts for 35% of cargo handled by Russia’s Arctic Murmansk port, the main northern gateway of Russia and a transshipment hub in the first half of 2023.

• India’s engagement with Russia’s Arctic region has been strengthening with India-bound goods constituting the maximum share of cargo handled this year by Murmansk, located about 2,000 km northwest of Moscow.

Murmansk Port

• It is one of the largest ports in Russia. , located on the Kola peninsula at the coast of Barents Sea. 

• It is the main centre of Russia's icebreaker fleet and is of increasing importance for oil-and gas transport from North-West Russian Arctic fields.

• Moreover, 3 road handling terminals (Lavna, Belokamenka, Mokhnatkin) are a part of the Murmansk port as well as an open road near Kolguev Island (the eastern part of the Barents Sea).

• Beyond Kola Bay the port owns several terminals designated for anchorage and repair of vessels, like settlements of Teriberka, Ura-Guba and Liinakhamari.

Northern Sea Route (NSR)

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

• India is also getting involved in the Northern Sea Route (NSR).

• There are challenges in navigating the 5,600-km-long 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.

• Ice-breaking therefore assumes importance, a task performed by FSUE Atomflot, a unit of Rosatom and the fleet operator of nuclear-powered icebreakers.

Alternative to Suez Canal

• NSR is being promoted as an alternative to the Suez Canal that would reduce the gap between Europe and countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

• For instance, the NSR across the Arctic Ocean from Murmansk to Yokohama in Japan is about 6,000 nautical miles (NM). Alternatively, the distance via the southern shipping routes is about 13,000 NM.