Translated by Sasha and subtitled by Leo.

A specimen of real, as opposed to false creativity has been once again demonstrated by one of the Russian state corporations – Rosatom. Its PR team used the jamming of the Suez canal by a container ship for advertising the Northern Sea Route and for trolling to the Western ‘partners’.

The situation in the Suez canal vividly demonstrated why Russia is strengthening its position in the Arctic. A huge container carrier that jammed the main transport artery of the planet has caused gigantic losses – $10 billion a day. That is if we don’t count all sorts of indirect consequences like a local oil shortage caused by its delivery delays.

Source – Izvestiya: “Tankers carrying $400 million worth of oil found themselves blocked by the ship ‘Ever Given’ which ran aground in the Suez Canal a few days ago. The magazine South China Morning Post reported this on March 26 from sources of the analytical agency Kpler.”

With this situation as the background, our Rosatom began quite creatively advertising our Northern Sea Route, aiming precisely at the foreign audience.

Rosatom: “Thread: reasons to consider Northern Sea Route as a viable alternative to the Suez Canal Route.

1. Way more space to draw peculiar pictures using your giant ships.

2. If you get icebound, we have icebreakers, well to break the ice.

3. You might get stuck in the Suez Canal for days.”

This is not only an advert but also a trolling addressed at the Anglo-Saxon russophobes who believe that they control the key transport arterials of the planet. In the past they did. However, as the climate is changing and the Russian icebreaker fleet is growing, the Western control over the trade between the South-East Asia and the European Union is doomed to weaken. Such incidents as the blocking of the Suez Canal merely urge the product suppliers from China to EU to ponder whether it is worth a risk of getting stuck in a jam and ensuring losses or better to entrust the steering of the container ships to the Russian icebreakers.

The blocking of the canal also reminds the Europeans how important is the Northern Stream 2 for them. Because it is not only the oil tankers that were stuck in the canal. The carriers with the liquid gas from Qatar were there too. In the meantime, the pipeline deliveries from Russia are protected from such risk. Oil has already reacted to this. Spot prices of gas, particularly the liquid petroleum gas, may rise for a brief period. But something else is interesting here. The Head of the National Energy Security Foundation Konstantin Simonov says: “The accident vividly demonstrated the advantage of Russia as the gas supplier to Europe and that pipelines should not be written off,” the expert said.

Source – Russian Gazette: “Europe gets the bulk of its LPG from Qatar and the gas tankers sail via the Suez Canal. Taking into account the empty gas storages due to lower temperatures during the past winter, the blockage of this route leaves Europe with three options: either to buy more of Russian pipeline gas or again the Russian LPG, or to buy the LPG in the USA. Had the Northern Stream 2 been in operation now, as it was initially planned, Europe would not have had any problems with gas supply.”

Like that! The ‘sworn partners’ of Russia are used to thinking they have everything under control. However such incidents demonstrate how fragile is the Western civilization in reality, dependent on a mount of various factors that have a lot less influence on us. I already raised this topic when back in I discussed the frost in Texas. Now, looking at the fuss around the container carrier blocking the Suez, I am left with nothing else but the urge to join the question put forward by a spiteful Russian political writer, Viktor Marakhovsky:

Source – Telegram channel Marakhovskoye Vremya: “Dear respected friends, I do not understand the bureaucratic hubbub around the container carrier in the Suez Canal. I can name a few ways of clearing the ship straight away. First, to start a flashmob in the social networks, to colour the avatars and to share the #IyouContainerCarrier tag, to declare a sitting school strike. Second, to invite the Avengers, although I think Hulk and Vision can manage, if just two of them. Third, to ask the modern visionary who earlier dug the super speed tunnels, rescued the children from the cave and solved the electricity supply in Australia. He surely has something up his sleeve.”

“It is impossible that the leading civilization, presided by the architect of the universe, would turn out to be unable to easily and simply straighten some barge that got turned by the wind (!) And it can’t be that some lousy wind block 12% of global trade. …Or can it be that civilization thinks too much of itself?”

That is a rhetorical question. But the salvation, just like the anti-COVID vaccine, will come from Russia. Our icebreakers will escort all the ships to their intended destinations. Don’t doubt that. And a banal wind, may it be even the Arctic one, is no obstacle for the Russian technology. If someone doesn’t want it, well, let them spend additional exuberant sums on insurance due to being stuck in the Suez Canal.