Atle Staalesen

After 80 years of legendary Arctic sailing comes bankruptcy for Murmansk Shipping Company

It was once Russia's leading shipper in Arctic ice. This week, the company was declared bankrupt.
October 08, 2020

As sea-ice retreats to record low, Arctic shipping reaches new high

Almost 23 million tons of cargo was shipped on the Northern Sea Route in the first 9 months of the year.
October 06, 2020

A drilling rig is moving north. It is part of Lundin Energy's expanded presence in the Barents Sea

The Swedish company moves against the tide as it boosts its license portfolio in the north Norwegian waters.
October 06, 2020

Korean yard to build floating storages for Murmansk LNG terminal

The Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) has signed a deal worth $748.2 million for the building of two barges for transshipment of Arctic LNG.
October 04, 2020

Navalny's man in Arkhangelsk is pulled in by police

Local coordinator Andrey Borovikov got his apartment searched and was then taken to the station.
October 01, 2020

Fire in Arctic LNG plant was "very close to a worst case scenario"

Control authorities have started investigations of the fire that could have had devastating consequences for Equinor's plant on the Norwegian Barents Sea coast.
October 01, 2020

Treatment for the minister of health as new virus wave hits Murmansk

Dmitry Panychev is hospitalized after contracting the virus. He is one of many Russian top officials now registered with COVID-19.
September 30, 2020

China's new icebreaker completes first Arctic expedition

A major number of sediment samples have been collected from the Arctic seabed in the course of the maiden voyage of the Xue Long 2.
September 29, 2020

As sea-ice shrinks to record-low, Rosneft prepares for northernmost ever drilling

A drillship is on its way towards the northern parts of the Kara Sea.
September 28, 2020

Norwegian drillers hungry for more oil

But regulators could soon limit their access to prospective new acreage.
September 25, 2020

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Atle is journalist and Publisher of the Independent Barents Observer.

In 2002, he founded the Barents Observer. He was editor until 2009 and later worked as journalist and project coordinator for several European cross-border cooperation projects. In late 2015, following a conflict over editorial rights, he re-established the Barents Observer as an independent and non-profit stock company along with the rest of the newspaper crew.  

Atle has a degree in Russian studies from the University of Oslo and studied journalism at the Moscow State University.

atle@thebarentsobserver.com
@atlestaalesen