The Norwegian Barents Observer reports that Russia's Ministry of Transport is expecting a more than 3,500 percent increase in shipping traffic along the Northern Sea Route in the next decade. The Northern Sea Route -- a Russian term that can be broadly considered to encompass all the seas north of that country and is sometimes also called the Northeast Passage -- saw 1.8 million tons of cargo in 2010, and the Ministry of Transport estimates that number will rocket to 64 million tons by 2020. "All of Russia’s ambitious plans for development of the Arctic are connected with the Northern Sea Route," the article reports, and says that a lack of icebreakers and infrastructure in the Arctic are holding back further development. Russia is addressing at least one of those problems with plans to build six new icebreakers -- including three nuclear-powered ones. Read more here, and check out a report on the ships that traveled through the Northern Sea Route in 2010 here.