Russia is once again talking about building the maritime infrastructure it needs to exploit the Northern Sea Route, but the scale of the task and the weakness of its domestic shipbuilding industry may leave Moscow with little choice but to turn to China for assistance, says Paul Goble, former Special Advisor to the Secretary of State and a longtime specialist on ethnic and religious questions in Eurasia, in his recent commentary on WindoonEurasia.

He says that would be an ironic outcome for the Kremlin. Moscow presents the Northern Sea Route as a strategic national asset and a critical component of Russia’s future economic and geopolitical position in the Arctic. Yet the effort to keep the route navigable may ultimately increase rather than reduce Russia’s dependence on Beijing.

The former US diplomat writes that Yury Trutnev, the Russian presidential plenipotentiary for the Far Eastern Federal District and one of Moscow’s leading officials responsible for Northern Sea Route policy, has said that Russia intends to establish a national “dredging fleet” to deepen waterways and maintain access to ports along the route.

According to Trutnev, President Vladimir Putin is expected to approve the plans.

On paper, the proposal is straightforward. In practice, it presents Russia with a formidable engineering and financial challenge.

The Northern Sea Route is not simply a maritime highway that becomes available when Arctic ice retreats. Its effective operation requires a substantial supporting infrastructure, including ports, navigation systems, icebreakers and vessels........

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