Two of Oldendorff‘s[ds_preview] ice class 1C Kamsarmax bulk carriers recently completed incident free voyages on the Northern Sea Route above Russia – a 5000 km East-West shortcut between Europe and Asia.
Both »Georg Oldendorff« and »Gretke Oldendorff« (81,500 tdw with side mounted cranes) departed Vancouver in August 2016 about 10 days apart, and proceeded through the Bearing Straights and Bearing Sea. Upon reaching the icy Laptev Sea they followed a Russian nuclear ice breaker however heavy fog was more of an issue for safe navigation than ice, and caused a few days of delay. After exiting the Arctic passage, both vessels discharged the coal into barges offshore Raahe, Finland using their side mounted cranes and grabs at 25,000 MT per day.
The 2015 downturn comes after a major increase in the years 2012-2013 when transit shipping volumes grew to 1,35 mill. t with the number of vessels counted 71. An earlier plan of the Russian government outlined a 20 times increase in shipments to 80 mill. t by 2030.
