Russia Launches Massive Vostok Oil Project, Marking New Arctic Shipping Era

Russia has begun loading crude from its giant Vostok Oil development onto tankers at the newly built Bukhta Sever terminal on the Kara Sea, marking the start of what could become one of the largest new sources of shipping demand on the Northern Sea Route.

Rosneft loaded the first cargo onto the 69,000-dwt ice-class tanker Valentin Pikul after President Vladimir Putin formally commissioned the project on September 6. The approximately 120,000-dwt Aframax Akademik Gubkin was waiting at anchor to take on a second cargo. Both vessels were built at Russia’s Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex.

Valentin Pikul, delivered in late 2024, is the