President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia plans to start regular container shipments via the Northern Sea Route across its northern flank from Vladivostok to St Petersburg next year. Russia invests in infrastructure to develop the Northern Sea Route and wants it to become a central shipping lane as the Arctic warms faster than the rest of the world. For decades, the transit route along that route had typically remained closed by ice from November until July. Last year, Russia moved almost 33 million tons of cargo along the Northern Sea Route, including over 18 million tons of LNG, representing five-fold growth in the past five years alone. According to a decree issued by Putin, cargo traffic along the Northern Sea Route should rise to 80 million tons per year by 2024. To help it achieve its lucrative Arctic ambitions, Russia has been renewing its unique civilian fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers. Environmentalists have raised concern over the growing presence of nuclear power in the sensitive Arctic region.