The Northern Sea Route (NSR) offers “limited opportunities” to shipping according to a study by US think tank The Arctic Institute.

An analysis of the 2013 shipping season on the Northern Sea Route concluded that even with the expected growth in shipping of hydrocarbon resources from the Arctic, mainly Russia, would not be enough to establish the NSR as a “true trade route”.

The 2013 season which lasted from 28 June to 28 November saw 71 transits, of which only 41 were full transits, and 43 were exclusively between Russian ports.

‪“Traffic patterns on the NSR differ significantly between east- and westbound transits and the NSR exhibits a strong bias for eastbound journeys. Products, primarily natural resources, are shipped to the markets in Asia, with limited cargo shipped in the opposite direction. This imbalance in the flow of goods leads to a higher share of ships traveling the route empty and thus reduces profitability,” said Malte Humpert, executive director of the institute and the author of the report.

While there is expected to a growth of cargoes such as LNG to be exported from the Yamal LNG project in Russia’s far north, this will be one-way traffic.

“The NSR will exist only as a transport route with mostly one-directional traffic. And outside factors, such as unfavorable market conditions, varying ice levels and the lack of available Russian icebreakers, may yet dash Mr Putin’s [President Vladimir Putin] hope to establish the route as a northern export highway,” said Humpert.