The project aims to facilitate the safe development of the maritime route from the Barents Region along the Norwegian coast to the core of Europe. It addresses the following issues: the development of regional maritime clusters, the promotion of Short Sea Shipping, transport in the petroleum and the seafood sector and risk management strategies. The project will be implemented in close co-operation with a similar project in the Interreg IIIB Northern Periphery Programme.

The main industries in Northern Europe are the exploitation of renewable and non-renewable resources which are primarily consumed in more southerly parts of Europe. The transport of these resources has shifted away from shipping towards road transport, with more lorries going onto the roads representing a challenge for sustainable transport. "The Northern Maritime Corridor- North Sea Region" (NMC) aims to develop safe, efficient and sustainable maritime transport solutions for transport from the Barents Sea region, along the Norwegian coast and the North Sea region down to the rest of Europe, connecting both the coastal regions bordering the North Sea and manufacturing industry in the North Sea basin with industrial developments in the Barents region. The NMC project aims to transfer goods from truck to ship, reduce emissions and congestion on road systems in Western Europe, improve the efficiency of inter-modal systems connecting sea, road, rail and inland waterways and improve the competitiveness of the coastal industries around the North Sea region. The project also links up to the NMC project being carried out under Interreg IIIB North Periphery Programme.

Expected Outcomes

The outcomes are expected to be the development of new concepts for transport and logistics for the transport of seafood, new maritime transport concepts in the petroleum sector investigating both the present situation in the North Sea and future possibilities in the Barents sea region, and the implementation and harmonisation of risk management strategies to secure the sustainability and safety of the Northern Maritime Corridor. Additionally, an international network connecting clusters in the different regions will be established.

Activities

NMC involves six linked strands. Regional Maritime Clusters involves the establishment of a regional work plan, supervising regional activities, and the development and implementation of regional strategies and action plans for activities by all project partners. Strand two is the Promotion of short sea shipping and the development of new services in the NMC and aims to create a flexible set of activities in different regions tailored to meet the challenges of increasing Short Sea Shipping. Seafood transport and logistics is strand three, and will analyse present regional seafood logistics with the focus on constraints in transferring seafood from truck to maritime transport and the development of an action plan on how to establish a maritime service that meets the needs of the seafood industry. Maritime Transport in the Petroleum Sector is strand four, and it focuses on the analysis of present and potential situations with regard to the flow of equipment and supplies carried by different modes of transport, as well as the environmental performance of transferring petroleum-related goods from truck to ship. Strand five is the Development of a Sustainable NMC and will include an assessment of what changes in risk exposure the development of NMC will contribute to and the risk management strategies that have to be developed and implemented. Finally, strand six is Management and Technical assistance, which, among other things, includes the overall marketing of the NMC project, contact with state public authorities regarding information and implementing the results of the NMC-project.

Reported Outcomes

Significant work has been carried out on the project in all areas. In strand 2 and 3 progress has been made with the sub projects. The Efficient Transport Chain project was finished and followed up by the shipping companies themselves. In the Barents Sea Intermodal Service two studies were completed, one by a Russian Consultant and by a British consultant. A conference was held in Amsterdam in September in order to discuss the findings of the studies. The aim of the sub project is to enhance container traffic in Murmansk and Archangel as gateways to central Russia. The Norway-Benelux intermodal service for seafood project partnership was fully established at the beginning of 2005. The project comprises rail transport from Northern Norway to Oslo and Kristiansand, and sea transport further to Groningen and Zeebrugge. In February, the lead partners in NMC North Sea and Nothern Periphery presented the NMC with a focus on NMC as a Motorway of the Sea at a meeting with DG TREN, Unit for Motorways of the Sea, in Brussels.