The Federation Council obliged foreign warships to warn the Russian Federation 90 days in advance about the passage along the Northern Sea Route

The Federation Council approved a law according to which foreign warships will be able to pass through the Northern Sea Route (NSR), provided that they notify Russia 90 days in advance. According to the new law, one foreign warship or other state-owned ship may be on the Northern Sea Route, which does not have the purpose of entering a seaport, a naval base or a base for warships. Previously, Russia did not require notifications for passage along the NSR from foreign ships.

“Change in the global climate, leading to the melting of ice, inevitably entails not only an increase in the volume of maritime transportation of transit cargo between Europe and Asia along the NSR, but also the intensification of the naval activities of various states in the Arctic zone,” the explanatory note to law.

The law establishes that warships and ships with nuclear power plants, as well as ships carrying nuclear, dangerous or poisonous substances, when entering the NSR, must have the necessary documents on board, observe special precautions and follow the route established in the permit.

In addition, Russia will be able to promptly stop the passage of foreign warships and other government ships in the territorial sea and internal waters. “Such a suspension comes into force after the announcement of this in a navigational warning,” the law says.

Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed government to transfer control of the NSR to Rosatom in May. The head of the state corporation, Alexei Likhachev, reported that it had prepared a draft plan for the development of the Northern Sea Route and did not intend to abandon foreign projects. In October, the commander of the Northern Fleet Alexander Moiseev warned about the growth of negative military-political trends in the Arctic.

Polina Sobakina