Northern Sea Route the main responsibility for the Northern Sea Route to Rosatom which through its ROSATOMFLOT subsidiary manages the Russian nuclear powered icebreaker fleet. Northern Sea Route The Northern Sea Route (, "Severnyy morskoy put", shortened to Севморпуть, "Sevmorput") is a shipping route officially defined by Russian legislation as lying east of Novaya Zemlya and specifically running along the Russian Arctic coast from the Kara Sea, along Siberia, to the Bering Strait. The entire route lies in Arctic waters and within Russia's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Parts are free of ice for only two months per year. The overall route on Russia's
Convoy PQ 18 against Russian ships thought to be sailing along the route north of Siberia. "Admiral Scheer" sailed north of Novaya Zemlya and then to the east and sank a Soviet icebreaker. By 30 August "Admiral Scheer" was back in Narvik. "B-Dienst" signals interception and documents recovered from a crashed Hampden, revealed details about the PQ 18 and QP 14 convoys, including their crossover and escort changeover points. U-boats, destroyers and the minelayer "Ulm" sailed on Operation Zar ("Unternehmen Zar") to sow mines at the entrance of the White Sea and off Novaya Zemlya. On 25 August, Ultra revealed the itinerary of