AP: Traffic flows through the Northern Sea Route decreased in 2014

The flow of ships passing through Arctic waters declined in 2014, the Associated Press reported.

According to the Alaska Public Radio Network, 31 ships used the Northern Sea Route, traveling between Europe and Asia. Another 22 vessels used part of this route.

Moreover, in 2013 more than 70 vessels used the Northern Sea Route.

Forecasts of increased traffic flows due to the melting of Arctic ice may have been premature, said Malte Humpert, executive director of the Arctic Institute in Washington.

“I think 2014 showed that the revitalization of Arctic shipping may be a matter of a more distant future than we could have imagined a few years ago; that the ice is not melting as quickly as previously predicted, ”he says.

The reduced level of sea ice cover in 2007 and 2012 sparked optimism about the prospects for the extraction of natural resources in the Arctic, cargo transportation and large-scale tourism, the expert noted. But when the volume of ice increased in 2014, the nature of shipping changed.

Russia is feeling the impact of economic sanctions related to its actions in Ukraine, says Hampert, and this has reduced Russia's oil production activity. The decline in oil prices also affected, he says.

Joel Plouf, managing editor for Montreal-based Arctic Yearbook, says access to the Arctic remains limited and the development of the region is costly.

“This is the reality. There is no boom there. Any development will require many, many years,” he says, according to Voice of America.