OREANDA-NEWS. The Japanese government plans to create its own system for ensuring safe navigation in the Arctic Ocean in order to use this route for transportation of goods in the future. This was reported on Monday by the Japanese newspaper.

According to her, within the framework of the project, a new icebreaker will be built, on which special radars will be installed to monitor the water surface and measure the thickness of the ice. Based on these data, as well as information from satellites, the most optimal and safe route for merchant ships with minimum fuel costs will be developed.

Now Japan has a Mirai research vessel, which could be suitable for such purposes. However, its capabilities are not enough to move in the Arctic Ocean in any season. In this regard, it was decided to build a new icebreaker by the end of 2020. About 650 million yen ($ 6 million) was allocated from the state budget for the current year to create the monitoring system itself.

Recently, Japan pays great attention to the development of cooperation with the Russian Federation in the development of the Northern Sea Route, including with the aim of transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG).