Norway’s northern waters in the Norwegian and Barents Sea continue to experience rapid growth in shipping traffic, data in the 2022 Arctic Report Card conclude.
The report, published annually by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the U.S., shows that the ship count along the coastal waters above the Arctic Circle and in waters around Svalbard has increased by 42 percent annually over a 9-year period.
The increase in activity arises from both more local and intra-Norwegian traffic, e.g. cruise ship and fishing vessel activity around Svalbard, and also from greater transit traffic, meaning vessels passing through Norwegian waters into and out of the Arctic. The latter category relates to a greater number of oil and gas carriers traveling from the Russian Arctic to and from Europe. Läs artikel