On October 3, a souvenir sheet dedicated to the 500th Anniversary of the commencement of the Russian development of the Northern Sea Route was put into postal circulation

The Northern Sea Route (NSR) is a Russia's primary maritime Arctic shipping lane that runs along the northern coast of Russia traversing the Barents, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, and Chukchi seas of the Arctic Ocean and partly of the Pacific Ocean (the Bering Sea).

It connects European and Far Eastern ports, as well as the mouths of navigable Siberian rivers into a single transport system. Its length from the Kara Gate to the Providence Bay is about 5,610 km, and the length of the adjacent navigable river routes is about 37,000 km. Transport convoying through ice massives is possible only with the help of icebreakers. The Northern Sea Route serves the Arctic ports and those of major Siberian rivers, thereby ensuring the import of food, fuel, and equipment, and the export of timber and minerals.

The modern NSR is the result of centuries-long development of northern regions of Russia. Its history begins with the first voyages of the Pomors in the 11th–13th centuries, and the idea of practical usage of the Northern Sea Route was put forward by Russian diplomat D. Gerasimov in 1525. His project for maritime communication across the Arctic Ocean anticipated the idea of pass-through navigation across the ice seas, which was realized only in the 20th century. In the summer of 1648, Semen Dezhnev and his companions sailed from the mouth of the Kolyma River to the Anadyr River, proving the separation of Eurasia and America and the existence of a sea passage from the Arctic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

A prominent place in this study belongs to two Kamchatka expeditions led by V. Bering, a high-latitude expedition headed by V. Chichagov, the North-Eastern expedition led by I. Billings and G. Sarychev, the Ust-Yanskaya and Kolymskaya expeditions led by P. Anzhu and F. Wrangel, and the Novaya Zemlya expeditions undertaken by F. Litke, P.K. Pakhtusov, and A.K. Tsivolko. From 1877, regular Kara Sea expeditions began with the aim of transporting Siberian agricultural products and minerals to the world market via the Kara Sea. Until 1919, due to a lack of proper navigation equipment, ports, and icebreakers in the northern seas, only 75 of 122 expeditions were successful.

In 1932, an expedition of the Alexander Sibiryakov icebreake, guided by O. Schmidt, made the first voyage from Arkhangelsk to the Bering Strait without wintering, proving the feasibility of operating the Northern Sea Route. At the same time, the Main Directorate of the Northern Sea Route (Glavsevmorput) was established, which was tasked with final laying of the Northern Sea Route from the White Sea to the Bering Strait and ensuring the safety of navigation. In the 1930s and 1940s, the Arctic ports of Igarka, Dikson, Pevek, Providence, and others were constructed.

Expeditions prove rather essential in the development of the Northern Sea Route: a hydrographic expedition to study the route and compile navigation charts and pilot charts, and a high-latitude expedition on the Sadko ice-breaker. Among the most notable voyages along the Northern Sea Route was the passage of Baltic Fleet warships to the Far East (1936). Of great importance are the drift of the Georgiy Sedov (1937–1940), the organization of the first scientific research drifting station North Pole-1 (which began operating on June 6, 1937) headed by I. Papanin, trans-Arctic flights from Moscow to the United States, ice patrols, and an aircraft expedition to the Pole of Relative Inaccessibility.

During the Great Patriotic War, the NSR was the most important transport route in the Arctic, used by warships of the Pacific Fleet to reach the Barents Sea.

The postage stamp features a wind chart; the margins of the souvenir sheet provide portraits of famous Russian navigators and polar explorers: S. Dezhnev, V. Bering, B. Vilkitsky, O. Schmidt, I. Papanin, and A. Chilingarov against the backdrop of a map, as well as the Taymyr and Lenin icebreakers, the Mir-1 research vessel, and animals inhabiting the northern seas.

In addition to the issue of the souvenir sheet, JSC Marka produced First Day Covers and special cancels for Moscow, St. Petersburg, Arkhangelsk and Murmansk, as well as an illustrated cover with the souvenir sheet, a label and a First Day Cover with a special cancel for urban-type settlement Providence inside.


Design Artists: A. Yegizaryan, R. Komsa, and S. Sviridov.
Face value: 350 rubles.
Souvenir sheet size (diam): 100 mm, stamp size in the souvenir sheet (diam): 33 mm.
Quantity: 19 thousand souvenir sheets.

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