Contents	5
	The Northern Sea Route: Introduction and Overview	7
	Overview	12
	Conclusion: The threat of substitutability	16
	References	19
	Arctic security, sovereignty, and rights of utilization: Implications for the Northern Sea Route	21
	Military capabilities and conflict potential in the Arctic	22
	Arctic governance, sovereignty, and rights of economic utilization	25
	Implications for the general framework of the Northern Sea Route	31
	References	37
	International Legal Dimensions of the Northern Sea Route	39
	The applicable international legal regime	40
	Soviet/Russian practice - confrontation and regulation	46
	The relevance of legally nonbinding rules	48
	Conclusion	51
	References	52
	The potential of container vessel operation on the Northern Sea Route: Nautical, regulatory, and operative issues	53
	Nautical issues	53
	Regulatory issues	58
	Considerations for the NSR’s future container shipping potential	61
	References	67
	Through the Northern Sea Route by Stena Polaris: A logbook	69
	Day 1	69
	Day 2	70
	Day 3	70
	Day 4	71
	Day 5	72
	Day 6	72
	Day 7	73
	Day 8	75
	Day 9	76
	Day 10	77
	Day 11	78
	Day 12	78
	Day 13	79
	Day 14	81
	Day 15	82
	Day 16	82
	Day 17	83
	Day 18	83
	Day 19	84
	Day 20	84
	Day 21	85
	Day 22	86
	Day 23	86
	Day 24	87
	Day 25	87
	Day 26	87
	Day 27	88
	Day 28	88
	The capacity potential of the Northern Sea Route by 2050	89
	Methods	90
	Transport volume vs. capacity potential: Factors of ocean route choice	91
	The capacity potential of the NSR by 2050	98
	Reassessment from a 2015 viewpoint	103
	References	105
	The Northern Sea Route as an alternative container shipping route: A hypothetical question or a future growth path?	106
	Traffic volume and operative aspects	107
	A model for estimating the slot cost of an NSR transit	108
	Conclusion	118
	References	120
	Go west: The insignificance of eastbound shipping for Russia’s extractive industry	121
	Commodities in the Russian Arctic	121
	Logistics and shipping infrastructure for seaborne commodity export	126
	Implications for eastbound traffic and transport volume on the NSR	128
	New traffic induced by current oil and gas drilling projects in the Russian Arctic	130
	Conclusion	132
	References	134
	About the authors	136