500 years of the Northern Sea Route

[Anatol]

On October 3, 2025, Russian Post issued a miniature sheetlet dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the Northern Sea Route. The postage stamp features a wind rose; in the margins are famous Russian navigators and polar explorers against a map: S.I. Dezhnev, V.I. Bering, B.A. Vilkitsky, O.Yu. Schmidt, I.D. Papanin, A.N. Chilingarov, as well as the icebreakers Taimyr and Lenin, the Mir-1 research vehicle, and animals inhabiting the northern seas.
Russian explorers began exploring the Arctic in the 11th century. The first settlements soon appeared on the shores of the White and Barents Seas. The inhabitants of these territories were the first to explore Arctic waters. They built koches – sail-and-row vessels capable of navigating through the ice. Living by fishing and hunting, they were the first inhabitants of Russia to master navigation in our northern seas, and they became known as the Pomors.
A 500-year period dates back to the first mention by the Russian diplomat Dmitry Gerasimov (1465–1536). In 1525, he explored the potential for practical use of the Northeast Passage and the through sea route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Dmitry Gerasimov cited information about the Pomors' voyages, and Gerasimov's map, compiled in 1525, has since been considered the very first map of the Arctic Ocean.
Many illustrious names are associated with the exploration of the Northern Sea Route, including Willem Barentsz, a Dutch navigator and explorer. He led three Arctic expeditions: the goal of the first expedition was to find a Northeast Passage to Asia (1594). Comprehensive exploration of the Arctic only began in the 15th and 16th centuries, when economic development became a priority. Russian industrialists, particularly those from Novgorod, traveled to the Ob and Yenisei Rivers with Siberian Samoyeds. They traveled in entire flotillas, sometimes numbering up to 30 vessels. The sea route was fraught with difficulties: ships were frozen in ice, and crews suffered from hunger, disease, and a lack of fresh water. These Russians founded the Arctic cities of Kola, Arkhangelsk, and Mangazeya, consolidating and expanding Russia's permanent presence in the Arctic. A remarkable event of this period was the sea voyage along the coast of the Chukchi Peninsula led by Semyon Dezhnev and Fedot Popov. The journey was extremely difficult, with several of the expedition's vessels lost in sea storms. However, three kochs led by Dezhnev reached the mouth of the Anadyr River and sighted a cape they named Bolshoy Kamenny Nos (Bolshoy Kamenny Nos). Later it would be called the Eastern Nose, the Chukchi Nose. And now the whole world knows it as Cape Dezhnev—the most extreme point of Asia.
Russian geographical expeditions of the 18th century occupy a prominent place in the history of science and naval history. The celebrated Kamchatka expeditions, which lasted approximately 20 years (1725–1743), took place in the first half of the century.
The expedition to Kamchatka was conceived by Peter the Great and entrusted to Vitus Bering, a Dane in Russian service. His closest associate was Alexei Chirikov, a Russian navigator and explorer of North America. They conducted two expeditions to Kamchatka in 1725–1730 and 1731–1734.
The Great Northern Expedition is the largest scientific research undertaking in Russian history. It lasted 10 years, from 1733 to 1743. The expedition is also known as the Siberian-Pacific, Siberian, and Second Kamchatka expeditions. This grand expedition included many courageous and talented individuals, including its leaders Vitus Bering, the Laptev brothers, and Semyon Chelyuskin, who created the first detailed map of the Arctic coast. Semyon Chelyuskin, a Russian explorer and explorer, reached the northernmost point of Eurasia, now called Cape Chelyuskin, in 1742. The brothers Dmitry and Khariton Laptev, Russian navigators who explored the eastern Siberian coast and charted numerous new lands, the Laptev Sea being named after them. Stepan Malygin, a Russian polar explorer who sailed along the shores of the Kara Sea and discovered several islands, is also a prominent figure in the exploration of the Arctic Ocean and the Arctic coast. The most daring and significant expeditions were those of V. Chichagov, A. Lazarev, F. Litke, P. Pakhtusov, P. Anjou, F. Wrangel, P. Krusenstern, and several other navigators.
In 1878, Swedish polar explorer Nils Nordenskiöld became the first in history to navigate the entire Northeast Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean on the steamship Vega—as the Northern Sea Route was known until the 20th century. This successful expedition was an exception: thick sea ice continued to pose a significant danger to ships. The second to navigate the Northern Sea Route were the Norwegians led by Fridtjof Nansen in 1893, and the third were Russian explorers on the schooner Zarya, led by Eduard Toll and featuring Admiral Alexander Kolchak, in 1900–1902.
Admiral S.O. Makarov proposed a solution to the ice problem, and in 1899, the first icebreaker, the Yermak, was launched.
From 1913 to 1915, a hydrographic expedition led by Boris Vilkitsky discovered the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago and then completed the first-ever voyage along the Northern Sea Route from Vladivostok to Arkhangelsk.
In Russia, the first fully successful transit along the NSR was accomplished in 1932 by a Soviet expedition under the command of Otto Schmidt on the icebreaker Alexander Sibiryakov, which completed the route in a single navigation season without wintering. This event symbolized the beginning of active development of the route on a national scale.
The Northern Sea Route is Russia's main shipping route in the Arctic. It passes through the seas of the Arctic Ocean, connecting European and Far Eastern ports. Year-round navigation in the western Arctic began with the commissioning of the nuclear-powered icebreaker Arktika in 1975. Incidentally, two years later, this icebreaker became the first vessel to reach the North Pole by water.
Today, nuclear-powered icebreakers and ice-class vessels, whose numbers are constantly growing, along with modern navigation systems and the development of the country's northern shores, have learned to cope with harsh weather conditions. A new era in the development of the Northern Sea Route has begun.
In recent years, regular oceanographic research in the waters of the Northern Sea Route has resumed. Artur Chilingarov, a Soviet and Russian Arctic and Antarctic explorer, has made a significant contribution to this research.

The modern Arctic is a site of active scientific research and economic development. This region is home to rich mineral reserves, and the Northern Sea Route is a vital national transport artery, running along Russia's northern coast through the Arctic Ocean, connecting European and Far Eastern ports.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly emphasized that the Northern Sea Route should become "the key to the development of the Arctic and the Far East." He stated that by 2025, cargo traffic along the NSR will increase tenfold, reaching 80 million tons annually.
Russia 2025; 350r.
Sources: https://www.rgo.ru/ru/article/doroga-vo ... skomu-puti and other sites.