Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: Earth knowledge Bureau (ID:diqiuzhishiju)

According to foreign media reports, the Ural, Russia's third 22220 nuclear icebreaker, has recently successfully completed its sea test and is expected to be delivered to the Russian State Atomic Energy Group this month.

Completed a two-week sea trial review in the Gulf of Finland and is about to begin an ice-breaking career to ensure the smooth flow of Arctic routes (photo: Wiki) ▼

The icebreaker has a displacement of 33000 tons, carries two 175 MW third-generation pressurized water reactors, has a maximum speed of 22 knots and can break ice nearly 3 meters thick. Two icebreakers of this type have been put into use in Russia, and seven are planned to be built.

Arctic delivered in 2020 and Siberian (figure: Wiki) ▼ delivered in 2021

The 22220 icebreaker will become the backbone of the Russian civilian icebreaker fleet in the next few years, and its role is to ensure the navigation of the Arctic Ocean route throughout the year. With global warming and melting of the Arctic ice sheet, the Arctic Ocean may become as important a marine hub as the Strait of Malacca.

On the map, the Arctic Ocean route and the Malacca-Indian Ocean-Mediterranean route are located on the north and south sides of Eurasia. There are dozens of countries along the southern route, while there are only a handful of countries around the Arctic Ocean, and international relations are much simpler.

In terms of distance, the Arctic Ocean route has a great advantage. We start in Shanghai and end in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Walking in the Arctic Ocean is 2670 nautical miles shorter than that in the Indian Ocean-Mediterranean Sea.

The Arctic Ocean route can be divided into three, but based on the current geographical conditions and trade pattern, only the northeast channel is feasible. The waterway runs west from the Atlantic Ocean, eastward along the long northern coast of Eurasia, through the Bering Strait into the Pacific Ocean, connecting Europe, Russia and East Asia.

At present, the vast majority of people passing through the Arctic waterway are cargo ships. The Arctic is indeed rich in oil and gas reserves, especially the natural gas from Yamal-Nenets, Russia. The LNG ship with ice sea navigation capacity will be the new focus of the shipbuilding industry, but the research and development cost of the ice sea LNG ship is very high.

Although the Arctic ice is melting year by year, it is still a long way from the large-scale application of the Arctic route. However, as long as the Arctic ice continues to shrink, it is only a matter of time before Arctic routes flourish. It will have a huge geopolitical impact and will reshape existing energy channels.

But the losses caused by global warming are probably much greater than the gains.

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