Amid decline in regional freight, a new shipping company opens in Arkhangelsk

By Atle Staalesen, The Independent Barents Observer May 22, 2017
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A view of the Northern Dvina River in Arkhangelsk, Russia, March 27, 2017. (Vladimir Smirnov / TASS Host Photo Agency via International Arctic Forum)
A view of the Northern Dvina River in Arkhangelsk, Russia, March 27, 2017. (Vladimir Smirnov / TASS Host Photo Agency via International Arctic Forum)

A fleet of six ships, all of them with ice classification, are now run from the company headquarters in Arkhangelsk. Recently, the fleet was strengthened with acquisition of three Arc4-class ships from Dutch company Spliethoff.

The Arctic Shipping Company was established in 2016 and intends to benefit from the growing shipping traffic along the Northern Sea Route, especially to the ports of Sabetta and Dudinka.

“We conduct deliveries to any site and island in the High North,” the company says on its website.

The company takes its name from the ship operator previously run from Tiksi. That company, a state-owned entity, bankrupted in 2009 after more than 50 years of operations.

The establishment of the company comes as the Arkhangelsk Sea Port is in crisis. In 2016, goods volumes dropped by 31 percent to a total of 2.7 million tons. The negative trend continues in 2017. In the first four months of the year, port volumes dropped by an additional 34.6 percent year-by-year, figures from the Association of Sea Ports show.