Objective
ARCDEV project is a Short Sea Shipping (SSS) full scale demonstrator. It will concentrate on the operational and technical feasibility as well as on the cost-effectiveness of a SSS corridor linking all the year round the Arctic regions of Russia to the EU.
The verified oil and natural gas reserves in Northern Russia and in the Russian sector of the Arctic Ocean are very large. They are considered as one of the long term energy supply source of Western Europe.
Together with western oil companies and engineering firms Russia is in the process of developing technologies to produce and ship most of the oil to Western Europe. Instead of transporting the oil by pipelines through various foreign countries and across unsafe soil conditions, the industry would like to investigate waterborne transport possibilities.
The conditions for maritime operations are extremely harsh in this region. While the Port of Murmansk never freezes, ice conditions become progressively more difficult eastward. East of the Taymyr Peninsula the route is covered by thick ice throughout the year. In the western part up to Novaya Zemlia the ice conditions are comparable to those encountered in the Northern Baltic Sea. Generally the period of 3 to 6 months is navigable under open water conditions.
The project will be implemented through a fully operational winter test voyage to the Ob river estuary with two ice strengthened vessels: an EU member state flag vessel and a Russian one. The test voyage will be performed in the form of real transportation, delivering gas condensate from the Ob Bay area to the European market.
The main objectives of the Demonstration and Exploration Voyage are concerned with
- Year round navigation in the Arctic
- Safe, reliable and economical operations
- Commercial aspects of such transportation system
This incorporates a number of challenges with a direct impact on further developments in technology and investment opportunities for EU and Russian industries
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SSS corridor linking the arctic regions of Russia with the EU
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This test voyage will simultaneously serve as a test platform for demonstration of other ongoing EU projects such as Ice routes, MBB, VTMIS, BOPCom. The project will co-operate with EU's Joint Research Centre.
Fields of science
Topic(s)
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
02151 Espoo
Finland