Record volume of cargo shipped along the Northern Sea Route in 2024

Russian nuclear major Rosatom has announced the figures for cargo shipments along the Northern Sea Route (NSR) for 2024. The total volume of cargo transported was 37,893.5319 tons, which is almost 37.9 million tons. This represents an increase of more than 1.6 million tons compared to the previous record.

“The year of the 65th anniversary of the nuclear icebreaker fleet was not only a time of new records in cargo shipping. In January, we laid down the icebreaker Leningrad, and in November, we launched Chukotka. The participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin in both ceremonies evidences the importance of the events for the country. Literally a few days before the New Year, the flag was raised on the icebreaker Yakutia. Another significant development in 2024 was the support for the concept of the Great Northern Sea Route by the country’s leader. This concept will govern our future efforts in the Arctic for the next few decades. We are facing the task of creating a new shipping route along with the relevant infrastructure from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok which will be connected with river ports and railways,” said Alexey Likhachev, Rosatom Director General.

2024 also saw a record number of transit voyages – 92 – with a record transit cargo volume of more than 3 million tons, which is nearly 1.5 times the volume of cargo transported in 2013. The demand for the Northern Sea Route and its safety increased in 2024. Since the beginning of the year, GlavSevmorput reviewed 1,312 applications for navigation in the NSR waters, which is a historic high for permit-based navigation (the previous maximum number of permits issued in a calendar year was 1,228).


With the support of GlavSevmorput the largest container ship ever crossed the Northern Sea Route in 2024. The ship entered the route on September 11 near Cape Zhelaniya and left its waters near Cape Dezhnev on September 17 completing the entire voyage in under six days.

The crews of Atomflot’s nuclear icebreakers with the support from GlavSevmorput specialists ensured 976 icebreaking escorts and provided information and navigation support for 72 vessels, according to Rosatom.


The Northern Sea Route is the shortest shipping route that connects the western part of Eurasia with the Indo-Pacific region. The NSR administratively begins at the border of the Barents and Kara Seas (Kara Gate Strait) and ends in the Bering Strait (Cape Dezhnev). The route is 5.6 thousand km long. The NSR traverses the seas of the Arctic Ocean (the Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi seas). India wants to use NSR and alto connect it Chennai-Vladivostok route as well as Chabahar Port in Iran.

It serves the ports of the Arctic region as well as ports on major Siberian rivers. At present, there are six major seaports along the NSR in the Russian Arctic including Sabetta, Dikson, Dudinka, Khatanga, Tiksi and Pevek. With the support of Rosatom, a project is being implemented to develop the Great Northern Sea route, a shipping corridor that runs from St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad to Vladivostok.

In 2018, the Russian Government appointed Rosatom the infrastructure operator of the Northern Sea Route (NSR). The corporation oversees the federal project “Development of the Northern Sea Route” and participates in the Northern Sea Route development plan until 2035 as well as the initiative for the socio-economic development of the Russian Federation until 2030 “Year-Round Northern Sea Route” approved by the order of the Russian Government.

One of the strategic objectives of Rosatom is to turn the Northern Sea Route into an efficient shipping artery linking Europe, Russia, and the India-Pacific region. Currently, a federal project is being developed to create the “Great” Northern Sea Route, a transport corridor running from St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad to Vladivostok.

The comprehensive development of the Russian Arctic is a national strategic priority. To succeed in the tasks set, it is crucial to increase the volume of cargo shipped along the NSR. This logistics corridor is being developed through regular cargo shipping, construction of new nuclear icebreakers and modernization of the relevant infrastructure. Rosatom companies are actively involved in this work.