It has been an Arctic odyssey for the ships and crews that in November got stuck in sea-ice on the remote Northern Sea Route. After a month of icy captivity and subsequent icebreaker rescue, a convoy of nine vessels this week made it to safety in the Kara Sea. On December 7, a Russian nuclear icebreaker completed

Over the past years, ice conditions in late October and early November have allowed extensive shipping along the vast Russian Arctic coast. This year, however, large parts of the remote Arctic waters were already covered by sea ice by late October.

Russia has proposed its strategic Arctic shipping route as an alternative to the Suez Canal after a 400-meter cargo ship got stuck in the canal, blocking one of the world's key shipping routes and sparking fears of a rise in oil prices.

A new study sheds light on some of the risks associated with Arctic shipping finding that vessels with lower ice-classes are up to 20 times more likely to become stuck in sea ice along Russia’s Northern Sea Route than vessels with higher levels of protection.

Two more Russian LNG tankers made history earlier this month passing through the North Sea Route, which extends along the northern coast of Russian Asia, in late January, the latest commercial ship

The «Baltic Winter» spent only about five and a half days on its voyage across the Northern Sea Route. Last year’s ice conditions in the area were favorable, Russian transport authorities say.

Favorable ice conditions meant that the ship »Baltic Winter» spent only about five and a half days on its voyage across the Northern Sea Route.