Arctic bridge
Encyclopedia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, specifically the Russian port of Murmansk
Murmansk
Murmansk is a city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It serves as a seaport and is located in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland...
to the Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...
port of Churchill
Port of Churchill
The Port of Churchill in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada is a port on the Hudson Bay, part of the Arctic Ocean. It was once owned by the Government of Canada but was sold in 1997 to the American company OmniTRAX to run privately....
, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
. Churchill is the principal seaport on Canada's northern coast and has rail
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
and air (but no road) connections to the rest of Canada. It is the northern terminus of the Hudson Bay Railway
Hudson Bay Railway
Hudson Bay Railway is a Canadian railway operating over of trackage in northern Manitoba.HBRY was formed in July 1997 to purchase former Canadian National Railway trackage running north from CN trackage at The Pas, MB on two branches, one to Flin Flon, MB and on to Lynn Lake, MB, the other to...
and is a useful link in the export of grain from the Canadian Prairies
Canadian Prairies
The Canadian Prairies is a region of Canada, specifically in western Canada, which may correspond to several different definitions, natural or political. Notably, the Prairie provinces or simply the Prairies comprise the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, as they are largely covered...
to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an markets. The port of Murmansk on the ice free Kola Bay
Kola Bay
Kola Bay or Murmansk Fjord is a 57-km-long fjord of the Barents Sea that cuts into the northern part of the Kola Peninsula. It is up to 7 km wide and has a depth of 200 to 300 metres. The Tuloma and Kola Rivers discharge into the bay....
is linked by the Russian gauge
Russian gauge
In railway terminology, Russian gauge refers to railway track with a gauge between 1,520 mm and . In a narrow sense as defined by Russian Railways it refers to gauge....
Murmansk Railway
Murmansk Railway
Murman Railway is a broad gauge Russian railway network that links the Murman Coast and Murmansk city and Saint Petersburg...
to Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
and the rest of Europe. Murmansk is also linked to the rest of Russia by the M18 Kola Motorway.
Russia has shown a keen interest in developing the Arctic Bridge route. If developed (along with the Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
) it could serve as a major trade route between Europe and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. According to the Russian Federation's Ottawa press attaché, Sergey Khuduiakov, the opening of the trade route has been enabled by the retreat of Arctic ice. Now, the route is only easily navigable about four months of the year, but it will become more and more viable as the climate warms.
The concept of an "Arctic Bridge", with a hub in Churchill
Churchill, Manitoba
Churchill is a town on the shore of Hudson Bay in Manitoba, Canada. It is most famous for the many polar bears that move toward the shore from inland in the autumn, leading to the nickname "Polar Bear Capital of the World" that has helped its growing tourism industry.-History:A variety of nomadic...
, was proposed by Canadians in the early 1990s. In 1997 the port of Churchill was sold to Denver-based OmniTRAX
OmniTRAX
OmniTRAX, Inc. is one of North America's largest private railroad and transportation management companies, providing management services to 16 regional and short-line railroads that serve 10 U.S...
, a major railroad operator. In 2004, OmniTRAX entered into talks with the Murmansk Shipping Company to promote the Arctic Bridge concept. While the Canadian Wheat Board
Canadian Wheat Board
The Canadian Wheat Board was established by the Parliament of Canada on 5 July 1935 as a mandatory producer marketing system for wheat and barley in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and a small part of British Columbia...
(CWB) has been able to keep Churchill a viable port, exporting nearly 400,000 tons (15 million bushels) of wheat each year, OmniTRAX has had difficulty in landing imports at Churchill.
On 17 October 2007, the first shipment of fertilizer from Murmansk
Murmansk
Murmansk is a city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It serves as a seaport and is located in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland...
arrived at the Port of Churchill
Port of Churchill
The Port of Churchill in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada is a port on the Hudson Bay, part of the Arctic Ocean. It was once owned by the Government of Canada but was sold in 1997 to the American company OmniTRAX to run privately....
. Two separate 9000 tonne imports of Russian fertilizer took place in 2008, purchased by the Farmers of North America
Farmers of North America
Farmers of North America is a volume-buyer group, incorporated in March 1998 by a rural Saskatchewan farm family, with the intention of increasing the profitability of the small farmer. The organization has now grown over 7500 producers representing more than in British Columbia, Alberta,...
cooperative of Saskatoon
Saskatoon
Saskatoon is a city in central Saskatchewan, Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. Residents of the city of Saskatoon are called Saskatonians. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Corman Park No. 344....
from Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea...
.
The port of Churchill exported 710,000 tonnes of grain in 1977, 621,000 tonnes in 2007, and 529,000 tonnes in 2009.
See also
- Northwest PassageNorthwest PassageThe Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
- Northern Sea RouteNorthern Sea RouteThe Northern Sea Route is a shipping lane officially defined by Russian legislation from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean specifically running along the Russian Arctic coast from Murmansk on the Barents Sea, along Siberia, to the Bering Strait and Far East. The entire route lies in Arctic...
also known as the Northeast Passage - Northern East West Freight CorridorNorthern East West Freight CorridorThe Northern East West Freight Corridor, usually referred to as the N.E.W. Corridor, is a project organized by the International Union of Railways UIC and Transportutvikling AS to connect the east coast of the United States to East Asia by train and ship....
External links
- International Herald Tribune: “Arctic riches coming out of the cold” by Clifford Krauss, Steven Lee Myers, Andrew C. Revkin and Simon Romero, The New York Times, Monday, October 10, 2005;
- Manitoba Government Newsrelease February 15, 2002 "Premier Signs Letter of Intent to Further Develop Arctic Bridge"
- The Globe and Mail (Toronto) 18 October 2007 "Russian ship crosses 'Arctic bridge' to Manitoba, Arrival of the Kapitan Sviridov at the port in Churchill marks historic first step in the construction of a new trade route, officials say"
- Arctic Bridge Churchill Manitoba Key to Northern Development