International Northern Sea Route Programme (INSROP)
Background – History – Organization
INSROP (International Northern Sea Route Programme) has been a six-year international research programme designed to create an extensive knowledge base about the shipping lanes running along the coast of the Russian Arctic from Novaya Zemlya in the west to the Bering Strait in the east. This route was previously named the Northeast Passage, but is now known as the Northern Sea Route (NSR).
The NSR represents a saving of up to 40% in distance from Northern Europe to Northeast Asia and the northwest coast of North America compared to southerly sea routes via Suez or Panama. The NSR may also prove instrumental in connecting the Russian Arctic with the rest of the world.
On 1 July 1991 the NSR was officially opened by the government of the Soviet Union to international shipping. To date, however, it has not been utilized commercially to a significant degree by non-Russian vessels.
The most obvious obstacles to commercially viable shipping in the NSR are the harsh natural conditions, including ice most of the year. Even though modern technology can overcome such practical difficulties, the investments needed to build a fleet of adequate ice-classified cargo vessels are staggering. A further problem is for Russia to muster the political and economic strength needed to maintain a stable, well-functioning infrastructure along the NSR.
INSROP’s objective and research philosophy
The research policy of INSROP has been that the scope of environmental, human, cultural and political parameters must be clarified before the route is exposed to a sharp increase in use. Those using the route must have a common knowledge base and understanding, in order to keep problems to a minimum while optimizing the advantages to be gained by using the route.
However, it has not been the task of INSROP to legitimize an increased use of the NSR on the basis of economic interests – or, for that matter, a closing of it based on environmental interests. Such decisions are entirely up to the government of the Russian Federation. What INSROP’s task has been is to build up a scientifically-based foundation of knowledge encompassing all relevant aspects of this problem complex, so as to enable public authorities and private interests to make rational decisions based upon scientific insight rather than upon mythology, hearsay and insufficient knowledge.
INSROP’s history
INSROP’s Phase 1 covers the years 1993–95. After an independent evaluation by an eight-member international evaluation committee of scientists chaired by retired US Coast Guard captain and scholar Lawson Brigham, the three cooperating partners in INSROP decided to proceed to a two-year Phase 2 in 1997–98.
Research has been organized in four sub-programmes:
I Natural Conditions and Ice Navigation
II Environmental Factors
III Trade and Commercial Shipping Aspects
IV Political, Legal and Strategic Factors
Phase 1 resulted in 112 peer-reviewed INSROP Working Papers as well as the hardcover volume (Northern Sea Route; Future and Perspective) containing the proceedings of the INSROP Symposium Tokyo ’95, and the book publication W.Шstreng (ed.): National Security and International Environmental Cooperation in the Arctic – The Case of the Northern Sea Route.
In INSROP Phase 2, a numerical simulation of NSR sailing based on different scenarios has been carried out, digitized information about the NSR in the form of an INSROP Geographical Information System (GIS) has been assembled, and a book manuscript based on the analysis and integration of five years of multidisciplinary research has been presented. In addition, INSROP Phase 2 has produced a further 55 peer-reviewed Working Papers. Final conclusions and recommendations have been presented early in 1999, along with the INSROP GIS database.
INSROP’s Organization
The three principal INSROP partners are the Central Marine Research and Design Institute (CNIIMF), Russia; the Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI), Norway; and Ship & Ocean Foundation (SOF), Japan.
More than 350 researchers from 14 countries have been involved in the programme.
The highest official body of INSROP has been the Steering Committee of Sponsors, made up of six representative members elected from the sponsors in Russia, Japan and Norway.
Under the Steering Committee has been the Joint Research Committee consisting of representatives from the three principal cooperating partners CNIIMF, SOF and FNI, including scientific experts from the three parties’ working groups. The Joint Research Committee has drawn up the guidelines for INSROP within the limits of the Programme Description; decided what projects to implement; and undertaken continuous monitoring of INSROP from both a scientific and financial perspective.
The INSROP Secretariat, located at FNI, has carried out the decisions of the JRC.
INSROP has been sponsored by: Nippon Foundation/Ship & Ocean Foundation, the Russian Federation, the Research Council of Norway, the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Royal Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Central and Eastern Europe Programme, the Norwegian Industrial and Regional Development Fund, Phillips Petroleum Company Norway, the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association, Kvжrner, Norsk Hydro and the Fridtjof Nansen Institute.