The number of voyages on the Northern Sea Route rose 46% in September compared with the same month a year earlier. This is stated in materials about the Northern Sea Route, including a Skolkovo volume devoted to the history, regions, projects, fleet, and fuel supply of the Arctic route. The percentage shows the year-over-year change, but by itself does not say how many vessels travelled the route. Without the absolute number of voyages and the counting method, the scale of the change cannot be assessed more precisely.
What the figure actually tells us
The key figure is a 46% increase in September compared with the previous year. This is a change in the number of voyages, not an indication that the volume of cargo carried, vessel tonnage, or total annual navigation increased by 46%: the information provided does not include those metrics.
The absolute number of passages used for comparison with September’s result is also not specified. So the percentage describes the direction and relative size of the change, but does not show whether it involved dozens of voyages or a larger number. The underlying figures for both periods are needed to draw that conclusion.
Where the information was published
One of the sources cited is the Skolkovo-linked publication Volume 3. The Northern Sea Route: History, Regions, Projects, Fleet, and Fuel Supply. The description provided attributes statistics on transit and cargo volumes on the Northern Sea Route to this publication; however, the September increase is reported specifically as 46%.
The same bibliographic excerpt mentions WWF and the year 2017, but the information cited alongside it concerns the age structure of the icebreaker fleet, not the September number of voyages. These data cannot be used to explain the increase: the material does not link the 46% figure to vessel age, a specific company, or an individual project.
How to interpret the increase in voyages
For a sea route, the number of voyages is an indicator of traffic intensity, but not a complete measure of transport activity. A passage by a large cargo vessel and a passage by a vessel serving another purpose each count as one voyage, even though their contributions to cargo tonnage may differ. The report of a 46% increase does not break the figures down by vessel type, cargo, or direction.
The reasons for the change are not given either: the available information does not establish whether the September result was affected by the navigation schedule, fleet composition, or particular shipments. Drawing such a conclusion would require additional data for both years. The report therefore reliably records a year-over-year increase in the number of voyages, but does not explain its cause.
What the figure does not tell us
The reference to September limits the comparison to a single month. It does not mean that the number of passages rose 46% over the whole year or that a similar trend continued in other months. Assessing the seasonal result would require monthly figures and comparable annual totals, which are not included in the material provided.
Three clarifications are needed to assess the practical scale of the change: the absolute number of voyages in both Septembers, the rules for counting transit passages, and a breakdown of traffic by vessel or cargo. Until these details are provided, the sound conclusion remains narrow: in September, the figure was 46% higher than a year earlier.
Bottom line: The number of September voyages on the Northern Sea Route rose 46% year over year, but without the underlying figures and a breakdown, the percentage reveals neither the scale of transport nor the reasons for the increase.
Sources
- sk.skolkovo.ru — “Volume 3. The Northern Sea Route: History, Regions”
- rzd-partner.ru — “Media Rating of Railway Operators for 2025”
- researchgate.net — “(PDF) Volume 3 — The Northern Sea Route: History, Regions”
- neftegaz.ru — “Maersk to Assess Commercial Viability”
