The Russian Duma is preparing legislation that will define the northern sea route as a Russian domain in which Russian inspectors will have the power to board and expel ships that do not meet Russian standards, a measure that constitutes the latest step in Moscow’s campaign to assert its control over parts of the Arctic Ocean far beyond its coastline.
At the end of last week, Artur Chilingarov, who advises President Dmitry Medvedev on polar issues, told the media that the new law will “help regulate shipping along a route” that is expected to become busier as global warming causes it to be ice free for longer than the two months each year at the present time.
Or are the Russian Polar aspirations just the Titanic headed out to sea?
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