Our Arctic Neighbors: Norway opens salmon bay for oil reloading

The Norwegian government has approved year-round ship-to-ship reloading of oil in the fjord outside Kirkenes, in the Barents Sea near the Russian border, the Ministry of Environment said in a release June 16. The company Ship Cargo AS appealed a ban on summer oil reloading in Bokfjord last year. The fjord has the status of a national salmon bay and needs to be protected from the oil industry, the ministry concluded when it imposed the ban.

Now that the ban has been reversed, strict environmental considerations should be adhered to, the ministry said. Oil reloading can only take place at the five points in the bay which underwent an environmental impact assessment some years ago. Ship Cargo and a second company, Kirkenes Transit, transferred their reloading of Russian oil and gas condensate to a fjord at North Cape — the point where the Norwegian Sea meets the Barents Sea — when activities at Bokfjord were restricted. Both companies may now return to Kirkenes in the summer.

—Sarah Hurst