First attempt to avoid Western sanctions… Concerns about using conventional ships
Due to the market change to China… ‘Desperate’ to save money to cover war expenses
russian oil tanker
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(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Yu Han-joo = Russia is said to be crossing the Arctic Ocean to export crude oil to China to avoid Western sanctions.
There is concern because a conventional oil tanker was sent rather than an oil tanker with a reinforced hull to prepare for ice collisions that may occur in polar regions.
According to Hainos News and Financial Times on the 15th (local time), Russia set sail from the port city of Murmansk this month with the Aframax-class oil tankers ‘Leonid Roza’ and ‘NS Bravo’.
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These tankers, which can transport up to 1 million barrels of crude oil, are heading to China via the Northern Sea Route (NSR) that passes through the Arctic Ocean.
The Northern Sea Route, which passes through the Arctic Ocean waters off the northern coast of Russia, reduces navigation time by up to two weeks compared to the southern route using the Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal.
The problem is that these oil tankers are not ‘ice class’ class ships with features to prepare for ice or icebergs.
The Financial Times pointed out that because the hull is thin, it has poor durability and does not have appropriate functions in case of an oil leak.
Experts believe that if such a ship crosses the Arctic Ocean, an environmental disaster is bound to occur when it runs aground.
Arctic sea ice is getting smaller due to climate change
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In particular, there are concerns that the risk of an accident occurring is high because conventional oil tankers do not have icebreaking capabilities.
There is also a general point that commercial use of the Northern Sea Route inherently threatens the marine ecosystem that has been protected by natural fortresses.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year and faced sanctions on crude oil exports, it switched its sales channels to new markets such as China, which are friendly to Russia, instead of Western countries such as Europe.
As the distance to export crude oil became longer and transportation time and costs increased significantly, Russia turned to exporting crude oil using the Northern Sea Route as an alternative.
Navigation specialist companies say that it takes 45 days to go from northwestern Russia to the eastern coast of China (West Sea) through the existing route, but if you go through the Arctic, the time will be shortened to about 35 days and the cost will be reduced by about 500,000 dollars (about 700 million won) per trip. see.
With the war in Ukraine turning into a long-term war of attrition, energy sales, including crude oil exports, are essential for Russia to cover war costs and support the national economy.
“Desperate countries do desperate things,” said Michael Byers, a professor of international law at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada. “It will be,” he analyzed.
Report via KakaoTalk okjebo
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2023/09/16 10:42 Sent
#Russia #oil #tanker #adventurer #Arctic #voyage #environmental #disaster #occurs #accident #yunhap #news
2023-09-16 01:42:33
