Arctic Sea: those two Ilyushin-76 cargo planes

A COURT in Russia's far northern region of Arkhangelsk is hearing testimony from six men accused of hijacking the Arctic Sea, a cargo ship, in 2009, the bizarre disappearance of which prompted international speculation about a secret Russian arms sale to the Middle East gone awry. see
Alexei Bartenev, the brother of one of the defendants, says the case remains a mystery. Why Russia flew the eight alleged hijackers and some of the crew - 16 people in all - were flown from Canary Islands to Russia on two large Ilyushin-76 cargo planes capable of carrying 40 tons each, if not also to carry weapons or other illicit cargo. "All I can say is that it's very suspicious."
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SCF Baltica: Liberian-flag tanker traverses Arctic

As the polar ice increasingly diminishes each summer, has it again been considered a possible commercially viable route for shipping goods from Europe round the northern coast of Russia to China, Japan and Korea.

The Liberian flag SCF Baltica IMO: 9305568, Sovcomflot beneficial owner. Carrying 70,000 tonnes of gas from Murmansk in Russia for Novatek, the country's biggest independent gas producer . destined for Ningbo in China. It traveled only 13,000km rather than the 22,000km it would take to go through the Suez Canal, in just 11 days – half the time it would take to go through the Suez Canal.