{"id":3898,"date":"2026-06-15T21:03:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T19:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/2026\/06\/15\/the-northern-sea-route-in-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T21:03:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T19:03:41","slug":"the-northern-sea-route-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/2026\/06\/15\/the-northern-sea-route-in-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"The Northern Sea Route in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>It\u2019s going to be more difficult to follow traffic on the Northern Sea Route this year, because the Russian authorities are no longer publishing daily position information for ships using the route.<\/p>\n<p>However other sources revealed that things got underway early this year. On May 29th the nuclear icebreaker Ural led LNG tanker Christophe de Margerie through the Vilkitsky Strait into the Laptev Sea:<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CdMUral-2026-05-29-23Z.png\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"812\" height=\"656\" src=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CdMUral-2026-05-29-23Z.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37383\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CdMUral-2026-05-29-23Z.png 812w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/CdMUral-2026-05-29-23Z-300x242.png 300w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/CdMUral-2026-05-29-23Z-768x620.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 812px) 100vw, 812px\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>On June 5th the modest convoy is about to pass Wrangel Island into the Chukchi Sea:<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CdMUral-2026-06-05-13Z.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"850\" height=\"643\" src=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CdMUral-2026-06-05-13Z.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37456\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CdMUral-2026-06-05-13Z.png 850w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CdMUral-2026-06-05-13Z-300x227.png 300w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CdMUral-2026-06-05-13Z-768x581.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Another nuclear powered icebreaker, Yakutiya, has also just made its way through the Vilkitsky Strait heading east:<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Yakutiya-2026-06-05_15-11-01.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"776\" height=\"563\" src=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Yakutiya-2026-06-05_15-11-01.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37457\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Yakutiya-2026-06-05_15-11-01.png 776w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Yakutiya-2026-06-05_15-11-01-300x218.png 300w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Yakutiya-2026-06-05_15-11-01-768x557.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 776px) 100vw, 776px\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>If Yakutiya is leading a convoy of one or more other vessels through the pack ice in the Laptev Sea they have all got satellite AIS turned off!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"Jun-08\"><\/a><strong>[Update \u2013 June 8th]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Christophe de Margerie has passed through the Bering Strait, and thus completed the first west to east voyage through the Northern Sea Route this year. Ural has been left behind in the Chukchi Sea:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CdM-MT-2026-06-08_11-10-37.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"587\" src=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CdM-MT-2026-06-08_11-10-37-1024x587-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37458\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CdM-MT-2026-06-08_11-10-37-1024x587-1.png 1024w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CdM-MT-2026-06-08_11-10-37-300x172.png 300w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CdM-MT-2026-06-08_11-10-37-768x440.png 768w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CdM-MT-2026-06-08_11-10-37.png 1137w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>Yakutiya has travelled north of the New Siberian Islands and entered the East Siberian Sea:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Yakutiya-CM-2026-06-08_11-16-55.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"952\" height=\"491\" src=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Yakutiya-CM-2026-06-08_11-16-55.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37459\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Yakutiya-CM-2026-06-08_11-16-55.png 952w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Yakutiya-CM-2026-06-08_11-16-55-300x155.png 300w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Yakutiya-CM-2026-06-08_11-16-55-768x396.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 952px) 100vw, 952px\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"Jun-15\"><\/a><strong>[Update \u2013 June 15th]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Christophe de Margerie has just passed through the Bering Strait heading north on a return journey through the NSR. This time around Yakutiya is leading the way:<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CdMYakutiya-VF-2026-06-15_16-02-30.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"771\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CdMYakutiya-VF-2026-06-15_16-02-30.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CdMYakutiya-VF-2026-06-15_16-02-30.png 771w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CdMYakutiya-VF-2026-06-15_16-02-30-300x265.png 300w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CdMYakutiya-VF-2026-06-15_16-02-30-768x679.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Watch this space!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s going to be more difficult to follow traffic on the Northern Sea Route this year, because the Russian authorities are no longer publishing daily position information for ships using the route. However other sources revealed that things got underway&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3899,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}