Arctic route saves time and costs for Indian shippers – CEO
The absence of Western sanctions and the shorter distance make the Northern Sea Route along Russia’s Arctic coast attractive to India, the CEO of a logistics company has said.
”The key factor is the absence of problems related to sanctions restrictions, which allows us to insure cargo against transport risks at very favorable rates,” Y&H Cargo CEO Rakesh Mishra said at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on Tuesday.
The four-day annual event is being attended by officials, businessmen, experts, and researchers from 80 countries.
Mishra said the Arctic route is shorter for Indian shippers and will also provide a boost to trade with Southeast Asia, the world’s largest manufacturing hub. “Overall, this trade route is more efficient than the western route,” TASS cited him as saying.
The 5,600 km Northern Sea Route (NSR) from Vladivostok to Murmansk runs off Russia’s Arctic coastline and is the shortest shipping route between East Asia and Europe. For India, the route can save up to 40% in distance and around two weeks in travel time to most European ports.
Mishra added that the Middle East conflict leaves India, which has traditionally relied on the Suez Canal route, with “no choice but to develop the eastern route.” India is the second-largest importer of Russian oil and the two countries have set a bilateral trade target of $100 billion by 2030.
India plans to send its first commercial ship along the NSR next year, an official said at the Arctic-Regions Forum in Arkhangelsk last month.
State-owned conglomerate Rosatom is the designated operator and coordinator of the NSR and also manages Russia’s nuclear-powered icebreaker fleet, which is keeps the shipping lane navigable.
Shipping traffic along the Chennai-Vladivostok corridor – also known as the Eastern Maritime Corridor – has seen a 70% jump in cargo movement.
