Emergency Ministry to Build 20 Rescue Centers in Russian Arctic

Twenty new polar search and rescue facilities will be built in the vicinity of major oil and gas projects in the Russian Arctic, said Alexander Chupriayan, the acting Emergency Minister, on 16 February. At present, six such facilities located in Arkhangelsk, Murmansk, Vorkuta, Naryan-Mar, Dudinka and Yakutsk are operational.

Ten rescue centers are at the construction stage, one of them being the Pevek first response facility, which is expected to be launched by 2024. In parallel, plans are discussed to build ten more such centers. These search and rescue facilities can be reportedly located in the areas adjacent to the sites of two Novatek’s gas projects, Yamal LNG and planned Arctic LNG, as well as near the village of Dikson where the Vostok Oil project will be implemented by Rosneft.

Both giants, Novatek and Rosneft, have announced their plans to co-fund the development of rescue infrastructure in the High North.

Making these projects real is crucial in terms of opening up the Northern Sea Route to all-year-round navigation. A network of rescue centers staffed with highly trained first-response personnel located alongside the Route will ensure the safety of marine traffic on Russia’s polar lane.