The problem of the availability of nautical charts and publications on the Northern Sea Route

Statistical studies of marine accidents and unfortunate events in ice-covered areas in 1995–2004 and 2004–2011 showed a general lack of information from the area under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation. The author’s research for the period 2004–2011 showed a large number of unfortunate events caused by lack of adequate provision of nautical charts, shortage of accurate position systems on board vessels as well as weak technical condition of these vessels. The author examined the problem of navigation safety on the Northern Sea Route in terms of availability of the official nautical charts and publications.

The availability of official nautical publications supplied by global producers is more diverse and ambiguous than it is in case of nautical charts. Surprising is lack of Russian publications related to tides and unavailability of a guide for planning routes on Northern Sea Route issued by Russia in Russian and English languages.

Global producers of official charts and nautical publications do not provide full range of information and recommend vessels the use of the products supplied by Russia. These products are issued in Russian. This is a serious impediment to their use and thus introduces privilege of ships’ crews who speak Russian.

Northern Sea Route leads through regions that are not sufficiently explored. The Northern Sea Route Administration recommends guiding ships only on designated routes marked on maps and described in nautical publications. The currently hydrographic work is focused on determining new routes according to the spatial distribution of the ice massifs during the navigation season. However, this does not solve the problem of a comprehensive exploration of the Russian Arctic regions for the purpose of safe navigation on the customized routes.