Russian legislation on the Northern Sea Route navigation: scope and trends

ABSTRACT

This article shows what steps Russia has taken since 2012 to accomplish the task of the legal regulation of navigation on the Northern Sea Route (NSR). Its first part is devoted to characteristics of the Russian legislation, which defines the territorial extent and legal status of the NSR as historically developed national transport communication of the Russian Federation. The second part contains a brief description of the 2013 Rules of Navigation in the Water Area of the NSR, which are in force in Russia today, in comparison with similar rules of the Soviet Union of 1990. The third part describes the nature of changes made to the Russian legislation in recent years due to changes in the world geopolitical situation, which prescribed a new procedure for allowing foreign ships to carry out certain types of activities in the NSR and a new matrix of interaction between Russian government bodies and organisations to manage this transport communication. The conclusion summarises results of the study and makes assumptions about the possibility of further changes in the Russian legislation on the subject.

KEYWORDS:

• Arctic
• Russia
• legislation
• Northern Sea Route
• navigation
• Rosatom

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

^1. Gavrilov, “Legal Status of the Northern Sea Route,” 256.

^2. The President signed Executive Order On National Goals and Strategic Objectives of the Russian Federation through to 2024. http://en.kremlin.ru/acts/news/57425.

^3. Ob”em perevozok gruzov v akvatorii Severnogo morskogo puti. https://www.fedstat.ru/indicator/51479.

^4. Permissions for navigation in the water area of the Northern sea route, 2019. http://www.nsra.ru/en/rassmotrenie_zayavleniy/razresheniya.html?year=2019.

^5. This article is devoted to analysing the content of Russian legislation on the NSR. Therefore, it does not address issues of its interrelation with the International Law of the Sea or with the national law of other Arctic states.

^6. Federal Law No. 132-FZ dated July 28, 2012.

^7. Federal Law No. 155-FZ dated July 31, 1998.

^8. Federal Law No. 132-FZ, art. 2.

^9. Federal Law No. 81-FZ dated April 30, 1999.

^10. Federal Law No. 132-FZ, art. 3.

11. Xue and Long, “Equal Treatment and Non-discrimination,” 337.

^12. NSRA was established according the Order of the Government of the Russian Federation of March 15, 2013 No. 358-r.

^13. Solski, “New Developments in Russian Regulation,” 103–07.

^14. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Montego Bay, 10 December 1982, in force 16 November 1994) 1833 UNTS 397.

^15. Dalaklis and Baxevani, “Maritime Routes in the Arctic,” 121; and Drewniak et al., “Geopolitics of Arctic Shipping,” 112.

^16. Gavrilov, “Legal Status of the Northern Sea Route,” 257–58.

^17. Federal Law No. 81-FZ, art. 5.1., para. 2.

^18. “Rules of Navigation in the Water Area of the Northern Sea Route”, approved by the Order of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation dated January 17, 2013, no. 7.

^19. “Rules of Navigation on the Seaways of the Northern Sea Route”, approved by the Order of the Ministry of Maritime Fleet of the USSR dated September 14, 1990.

^20. Zhang et al., “From Mandatory Icebreaker Guiding,” 138.

^21. For example, para 7.4. of the 1990 Rules established compulsory icebreaker and ice pilotage of ships in Vilkitsky, Shokalsky, Dmitry Laptev and Sannikov straits, due to difficult navigation and ice conditions and for the purpose of ensuring the safety of navigation.

^22. Zhang et al., “From Mandatory Icebreaker Guiding,” 143.

^23. “On Establishing Tariffs for the Services of Icebreaking Fleet on the Lanes of the Northern Sea Route”. Annexe to the Order of the Federal Tariff Service dated June 7, 2011, no. 122-t/1.

^24. Solski, “New Developments in Russian Regulation,” 113.

^25. “About the Approval of Tariffs for the Icebreaker Escorting of Ships Rendered by FSUE ‘Atomflot’ in the Water Area of the Northern Sea Route”. Annexe to the Order of the Federal service on tariffs dated March 4, 2014, no. 45-t/1.

^26. “On the Approval of Provision on the State Regulation of Rates for Icebreaker and Ice Pilot Assistance to Vessels Within the Water Area of the Northern Sea Route”. Decree of the Russian Federation Government dated April 24, 2015, no. 388.

^27. Franckx, “The ‘New’ Arctic Passages,” 204.

^28. Gritsenko and Kiiski, “A Review of Russian Ice-Breaking Tariff Policy.”

^29. Gavrilov, “Russian Arctic Policy,” 6.

^30. Executive Order of the President of the Russian Federation “Basic Principles on Russian Federation State Policy in the Arctic to 2035” No. 164 dated March 5, 2020.

^31. Mitrova, “Arctic Resource Development: Economics and Politics.”

^32. Executive Order of the President of the Russian Federation “On the Russian Federation’s Land Areas in the Arctic Zone” No. 296 dated May 2, 2014.

^33. Trutnev: Preferences will apply to entire Arctic zone. https://arctic.ru/economics/20200302/929745.html.

^34. Federal Law No. 460-FZ dated December 29, 2017.

^35. Poyasnitel’naya zapiska Komiteta Gosudarstvennoj dumy po transportu k proektu federal’nogo zakona “O vnesenii izmeneniya v stat’yu 4 Kodeksa torgovogo moreplavaniya Rossijskoj Federacii v chasti, Kasayushchejsya Kabotazha.” https://sozd.duma.gov.ru/bill/1155137-6.

^36. Order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated March 14, 2019, no. 435-r.

^37. «Gazprom» poprosil isklyuchenij dlya sudov pod inostrannym flagom v Arktike. https://portnews.ru/news/286084/.

^38. Federal Law No 34 FZ dated March 1, 2020.

^39. Federal Law No. 525-FZ dated December 27, 2018.

^40. Federal Law “On seaports in the Russian Federation and on amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation” No. 261-FZ dated November 8, 2007.

^41. Order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated December 21, 2019, no. 3120-r.

^42. Executive Order of the President of the Russian Federation “Replace with: Basic Principles on Russian Federation State Policy in the Arctic to 2035”, para. 4, 13.

^43. Falck, “Arctic Shipping Perspective,” 246.