Loaded with up to 38,000 tons of oil, the 245 meter long tanker Shturman Skuratov makes this year's first transit shipment on the Northern Sea Route. Despite major concentrations of sea-ice, the tanker sails without icebreaker assistance.

Two more Russian LNG tankers made history earlier this month passing through the North Sea Route, which extends along the northern coast of Russian Asia, in late January, the latest commercial ship

One of three propulsion units on the tanker “Nikolay Yevgenov” was damaged on January 16 as the vessel approached the Bering Strait. After having sailed with a speed of about 9 knots from Sabetta, the tanker suddenly slowed to 3 knots.

Last week, a 908-foot Russian tanker carrying liquified natural gas passed south through the Russian side of the Bering Strait, with two more to follow. The ships are traversing the northern coast of Siberia, called the North Sea Route, in the middle of January with no icebreaker escort, an unprecedented event that may hint at the future of the region as climate change alters global commerce.

The Kremlin is tightening its grasp on the Northern Sea Route as diplomatic tensions flare with the US and NATO over Russia's military expansion in the Arctic.

The «Baltic Winter» spent only about five and a half days on its voyage across the Northern Sea Route. Last year’s ice conditions in the area were favorable, Russian transport authorities say.