Russia Mobilizes 15 Tankers to Transport Oil Through the Arctic

Russia has assembled about 15 tankers to move around 8 million barrels of oil through the Arctic via the Northern Sea Route, Ekonomichna Pravda reported.

Tankers are already carrying oil or preparing to do so. The planned volume is nearly 60% of the amount delivered through the Arctic to Asia during the previous navigation season.

As of Aug. 3, most of the tankers were in the Kara Sea between Novaya Zemlya and Taimyr. They were likely waiting for a nuclear icebreaker escort or improved ice conditions before continuing east.

Three tankers were already moving along the Northern Sea Route, one of them nearing the end of the Arctic section, while two more vessels were heading toward the route through the Norwegian and Barents seas.

Russia has deployed three nuclear icebreakers to escort the flotilla, the report said. About 13.1 million barrels of oil were transported via the Northern Sea Route during all of 2025.

The concentration of tankers early in the season points to an effort by Russia to increase Arctic exports amid Ukrainian attacks on Russian vessels in the Black and Azov seas and Western detentions of tankers from Russia’s "shadow fleet".

The report said expansion is limited by a shortage of ice-class tankers. Sanctions have blocked Russia from ordering such vessels at foreign shipyards, while construction at Russia’s "Zvezda" shipyard has faced delays linked to equipment and financing problems.