Illustration photo: Rosmorport.ru

Emergency in Arctic waters as oil tanker gets stuck in ice, drifts ashore, attempting  Northern Sea Route

The 35 year old vessel «Chukotka+» carried several thousand tons of oil and independently tried to make it across the Northern Sea Route.    By  Atle Staalesen  Dec 04, 2017  
Little is known about the incident which probably could have triggered a serious accident along Russia’s icy northern coast, and could be one of many future ecological  disasters as the Northern Sea Route is opened up. .Due to the Climate Emergency, caused ironically in large part by the fossil fuel industry, oil tankers , as well as prospecting, drilling, military bases and a rush to exploit fishing and wildlife  which have proliferated in the arctic as the ice rapidly retreats.

The summer opening of the Northern Sea Route makes possible big savings in Asia/Europe trade, especially in oil and Liquid Natural Gas.  The Chukotka+ was bought in 2016, to be used precisely for this expansion by the company, also named Chukotka which has long experience in the area. .Russia has declared its intent to make the Arctic a Russian Sea, while the US has just abolished protection north of Alaska to begin drilling. Accidents and spillages are common and inevitable in the extreme conditions and the arctic is uniquely vulnerable as the contamination can linger for generations

Tanker “Chukotka+”. Photo: chtkom.com

According to Rostom, the state company operating the fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers, the «Chukotka+» on the 30th October entered the waters of the Northern Sea Route. The ship sailed alone and aimed for a voyage across the Arctic route without icebreaker assistance.

It was not successful.

In the Sannikov Strait, the area between the New Siberian Islands and the mainland, the ship got stuck in ice. It subsequently drifted with the ice onto a sand bank. Continue reading “Arctic Emergency. Oil tanker gets Stuck in Ice, drifts Ashore.”