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Tanker had to reverse in East Siberian Sea
Russia has dispatched an unprecedented convoy of sanctioned oil tankers to within 500 nautical miles of the North Pole, sending the fleet onto one of the most northerly commercial shipping routes ever attempted in the Arctic, including the 'Dinasty', 'Viktor Bakaev', 'Vostochny Prospect', 'Liteyny Prospect', 'Jagger' and 'Ligovsky Prospect'. The fleet had assembled in the Kara Sea over the past several weeks. Satellite images caught part of the fleet heading northwards on Aug 5, 2026. The fleet was transporting crude oil from Arctic export terminals toward Asian buyers as Russia continued to make growing use of the Northern Sea Route during the summer navigation season to shorten voyages and reduce reliance on contested global shipping hotspots such as the Black Sea. Russia has steadily expanded eastbound Arctic crude exports in recent years as it redirects energy shipments towards Asia following sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine. At the fleet’s current position, only four vessels were operating farther north, the Swedish icebreaker 'Oden', China’s polar icebreaker 'Xue Long', Norway’s research icebreaker 'Kronprins Haakon', and the ice-class expedition vessel 'Virgo'. The routing places Russia’s Arctic oil fleet among the northernmost commercial vessels ever recorded. The route passes north of 81 degrees north, roughly 10 degrees farther north than Utqiagvik, Alaska, which sits at about 71 degrees north latitude. The unusually northerly routing reflected the uneven sea ice conditions. While ice concentrations north of Severnaya Zemlya and across much of the Laptev Sea have already opened up, more difficult ice has persisted in the Vilkitsky Strait, prompting authorities to direct commercial traffic around the northern side of the archipelago instead. Farther east, however, the voyage remained challenging. Significant sea ice continued to cover parts of the East Siberian Sea. Three Russian nuclear icebreakers were currently deployed to escort commercial shipping along the Northern Sea Route. The difficulties became apparent, when the 'Aria' reversed course in the East Siberian Sea on July 31, possibly prompted by heavy ice conditions ahead.
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