China and other Asian countries are showing interest in using Russia’s Northern Sea Route (Sevmorput), the shortest route between Asian and European ports via the Arctic. This was reported in Chinese publication infoBRICS.
According to the publication, the Northern Sea Route is 8 thousand km shorter than the traditional route through the Suez Canal, which will reduce the delivery time of goods from 5-6 weeks to less than 3 weeks.
Asian states fear risks to commercial shipping in the Suez Canal region of the ongoing Middle East conflict. In particular, the crisis in the Gaza Strip threatens to spread throughout the region and disrupts the security of important shipping routes.
“We hope that a new connection will be created between Europe, Russia and East Asia. We want to open a new channel. If the crisis in the Gaza Strip expands, it will pose a major threat to the Suez Canal. So of course the Northern Sea Route will become increasingly popular,” said Jin Qianzhu, director of the Institute of International Relations at the People’s University of China in Beijing.
Russia is actively developing the infrastructure of the Northern Sea Route, despite Western sanctions. It is planned to launch year-round navigation here with the support of nuclear icebreakers by 2024. The publication notes that a major center for the production of liquefied gas for export to Asia is already being built.
At the beginning of March, Rosatom developed a project for year-round shipping on the Northern Sea Route.
India had previously announced interest In cooperation with the Russian Federation on the Northern Sea Route.