07.02.2024
New changes to the Rules of navigation in the waters of the Northern Sea Route
On February 2d, 2024, Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated January 31, 2024 No. 97 was published, which amended the Rules of navigation in the waters of the Northern Sea Route.
Thus, from the moment of official publication, the provisions of the Rules on the possibility of independent navigation of double-action vessels (equipped with propulsion and steering columns designed to move stern forward in ice) with ice class Arc7 and Arc8 in the period from January 1 to January 31 and from June 1 to December 31 in any ice conditions.
Other provisions will come into force on September 1, 2024. Among them:
- the list of documents required for filing an application for navigation of a vessel in the waters of the Northern Sea Route is changing (a drawing of the general arrangement of the vessel is required only for mixed (river-sea) navigation vessels with a gross tonnage of 1 thousand or more, as well as for seagoing vessels with a gross tonnage of 1000 to 45000; for Russian shipowners - if an application is submitted through the State Services portal, there is no need to provide copies of the classification certificate, measurement certificate and certificate for a one-time passage (passage) - but only if the ship is under the supervision of Russian classification societies - RMRS and RKO );
- the ability to apply for a certificate of ice pilotage rights through the State Services portal;
- the time frame for obtaining a certificate of ice pilotage rights is being reduced;
- the validity period of the certificate of the right to ice pilotage is fixed - no more than 5 years from the date of issue;
- a basis is introduced for the termination of the permit to navigate in the waters of the Northern Sea Route in the event of a ship losing its class specified in the classification certificate;
- the possibility of filing an application to change the validity period of a permit to navigate in the waters of the Northern Sea Route is fixed. At the same time, a simplified option is provided for submitting such an application, attaching only those documents to which changes were made after the submission of the initial application;
- the period for making a decision on amending the permit for a vessel to navigate in the waters of the Northern Sea Route is being reduced from 72 to 24 hours;
- for ships without ice class and with ice classes Ice1-Ice3, sailing periods (from July 1 to November 15) can be changed by no more than 20 days.
The full version of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated January 31, 2024 No. 97 can be found at the link: http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/document/0001202402020023
The current text of the Rules for Navigation in the Northern Sea Route can be found in the “Official Information” section.