After Defense, Space & Nuclear Energy, Shipbuilding Joins India-Russia Strategic Pillars

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Update

During the course of the just concluded 23rd India - Russia Summit in New Delhi, the two nations signed a MoU on Training of Specialists for Ships Operating in Polar Waters: Between India's Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Russia's Ministry of Transport, to train Indian seafarers for Arctic navigation.

Also, they signed a MoU on Shipbuilding Cooperation Framework: Covering joint ship design, technology transfer, local manufacturing, and maritime infrastructure. 

The MoUs signal India's readiness to partner with Russia in developing and using the NSR (Northern Sea Route) through the Arctic and build Ice-class ships.

Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov told Sputnik in an interview, "Organizing joint production of Arctic-class vessels could become a promising area of cooperation."

Joint ice-class shipbuilding will not only add more depth to the strategic relationship between India and China, it will facilitate increased trade between the two countries.

Ice-class ships are vessels with reinforced hulls designed to safely navigate areas with floating or broken sea ice, such as those seen during Arctic summers.

They differ from icebreakers, which are specialized vessels—often equipped with very powerful propulsion systems, including nuclear power—that can break through solid ice, including winter ice cover. Icebreakers typically have rounded, sloping bows that ride up onto the ice and break it under the ship’s weight and forward motion.

Jointly constructing ice-class ships would be mutually advantageous for both countries. It would allow India to leverage its robust shipbuilding infrastructure, while Russia would leverage its extensive experience in building icebreakers and ice-class ships.

Russia and India have been negotiating to boost trade by developing the Eastern Maritime Corridor (EMC), also known as the Chennai–Vladivostok corridor, and the Northern Sea Route (NSR)—through investments in port infrastructure and shipbuilding, particularly the construction of ice-class tankers to transport oil, and training Indian crews to operate cargo ships safely in the Arctic Ocean, negotiating ice blocks and frozen waters.

Northern Sea Route (NSR)

The NSR stretches about 5,600 km (≈3,500 miles) through the Arctic Ocean from Murmansk near Russia's border with Norway eastwards to the Bering Strait near Alaska. The route is an alternative to the Suez Canal and is around 40% shorter. It passes through challenging Arctic waters that are navigable mainly during ice-free months or with the assistance of Russian nuclear and diesel icebreakers.

With climate change reducing sea ice, the NSR is becoming increasingly navigable and is emerging as a more economic alternative to the Suez Canal.

Reduced shipping costs through the NSR make Russian resource exports—crude, LNG, and coal—more competitive, particularly for large consumer countries like China and India.

Currently, annual cargo volumes through the NSR fluctuate between 35 and 40 million tons.

To facilitate volume growth and transform the NSR into a major international shipping corridor, Russia is seeking partners to invest in support infrastructure, nuclear icebreakers, and ice-class cargo ships. Currently, the number of ice-class ships is insufficient to achieve the target of 200 million tons.

Eastern Maritime Corridor (EMC)

The Eastern Maritime Corridor (EMC), also known as the Chennai–Vladivostok Maritime Corridor, connects Chennai Port in India with Vladivostok in Russia's Far East. Spanning approximately 5,600 nautical miles (10,300 km), the corridor links India to the NSR. The EMC-NSR combination reduces cargo transit times from the traditional 40 days via the Suez Canal to about 24 days, bypassing congested chokepoints and avoiding West Asian regions prone to geopolitical instability.

The corridor was first proposed during PM Modi's 2019 visit to Vladivostok. Its relevance surged when India's trade with Russia grew over 200% year-on-year in early 2024. The importance of the route for energy security and supply chain diversification became evident.

Joint Working Group on the NSR

Following the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit on July 9, 2024, in Moscow, India and Russia established a Joint Working Group (JWG) on the Northern Sea Route under the India–Russia Intergovernmental Commission.

The JWG aims to enhance bilateral maritime ties with a focus on Arctic navigation and trade routes.

Conclusion

With India and Russia targeting $100 billion in bilateral trade by 2030, the imperative to exploit the potential of the EMC and NSR—through collaboration in building infrastructure and ice-class ships—is obvious. As such, it is likely that India and Russia will firm up a partnership during President Putin's forthcoming visit to India.

By deepening its strategic partnership with Russia, India can prevent Moscow from becoming overly dependent on China, thereby preserving a more balanced Russia-India-China (RIC) dynamic.