Shipping success through Northeast Passage

MV

Beluga Fraternity and

MV

Beluga Foresight

delivered various heavy lift modules from Ulsan, South Korea, straight to Novyy Port/Yamburg at the River Ob in Siberia, exited the so called Northern Sea Route by passing Nowaya Semlja, and took on the hook up project by loading steel pipes in Archangelsk and delivering them to Nigeria. Connecting continents is nothing new in the world of shipping, doing so by utilising the short cut through the Arctic Ocean, however, is a real breakthrough.

Sailing the route, which is newly open for a short time frame in summer due to global warming and melting ice, shaves off some 3,000 nautical miles from the 11,000 mile long traditional journey through the Suez Canal and the Gulf of Aden.

‘By using the Northern Sea Route we could reduce the bunker consumption of the used low sulphur Intermediate Fuel Oil 380 by roughly 200 tons in total per vessel, said Beluga Shipping president and CEO Niels Stolberg. ‘This resulted in financial savings of about $100,000 alone for bunker costs with Beluga F-class vessels plus $20,000 daily for each day travelling the Northeast Passage shortens the usual voyage time.’

In total, some $300,000 per vessel was saved by transiting the formerly ice packed route along the North Russian shore through the Bering Sea, the Bering Strait, the Laptev Sea, the Vilkizki Strait and the Kara Sea instead of taking the long way round. A positive side effect is that environmentally harmful emissions were significantly reduced.

‘We can use the Northeast Passage only because of the effects of global warming, yet by doing so we reduce the bunker consumption and cut down emissions. With regard to the global Carbon Dioxide balance, this is a beneficial achievement’, concluded Niels Stolberg.

These pioneer voyages are only the beginning for Beluga Shipping, which has booked contracts for the shipment of project and heavy lift cargo with single weights of up to 1,000 tons that will be discharged offshore onto barges in Siberia for onward transport to final destinations.

The oil and gas industry and other infrastructure is developing in Siberia and the open Northeast Passage brings carriers closer and more direct to market via a previously impossible route. Next year Beluga Shipping is likely to use the new generation vessels of the Beluga P-class. These super heavy lift powerhouses provide for a maximum 20,000 deadweight tonnage and, combined with crane capacities of 800 to 1,400 tons, using the Northeast Passage could result in financial savings of some $600,000 per vessel per transit.