Russia and China in the Arctic

Quotes and Quotas is a digest of phrases and facts that help explain Asia’s infrastructure push.

The Arctic ice cap is melting and giving way to new commercial and economic opportunities. By investing in new infrastructure such as the Yamal LNG terminal and enhanced maritime capabilities, Russia and China are gaining quicker access to European markets through the Northern Sea Route.

1: The number of commercial ships to have ever crossed the Arctic in winter without the assistance of an ice-breaking ship as of February 2018

3: The number of new icebreakers that Russia floated in 2016

9.9: The percent stake that China’s Silk Road Fund holds in the Yamal LNG project

19: The number of days it took for the Novatek-owned, Russian-built tanker ‘Christophe de Margerie’ to complete the Northern Sea Route from Norway to South Korea without an icebreaker- a historic first for a commercial ship – in the summer of 2017

20: The percent stake of the China National Petroleum Company in the Yamal LNG project

150: The number of economic development and infrastructure projects that Russia has initiated along the Arctic waterways in the past decade

16.5 million: The total annual production capacity in tonnes of the Yamal LNG port’s three production lines

50 million: The potential increase in tonnes of domestic freight that Russia could see by the year 2020 due to the Yamal LNG port

$12 billion: Total Chinese investment in the Yamal LNG project

$27 billion: The total projected cost of the Yamal LNG project as of 2016

Source: Maritime Futures: The Arctic and the Bering Strait Region by Heather A. Conley, Matthew Melino, and Andreas Osthagen

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