Image for representation purposes only A Russian oil tanker carrying crude to China suffered serious hull damage while sailing through the Arctic Ocean, even though an icebreaker was escorting it. Russian insurer AlfaStrakhovanie paid 53 million rubles ($638,000) in compensation for the damage, according to sources. The name of the tanker and the exact date of the accident are not known. AlfaStrakhovanie has not released those details. Russian state agencies have also largely stopped publishing official safety notices about incidents in Arctic waters since 2026, according to the source material. The incident is the second recent emergency involving a tanker carrying oil to China and at least the fourth reported incident in the region in the past 15 years. Previous incidents involving tankers Last year, the tanker Lynx, carrying about 1 million barrels of Russian crude for China, became trapped in ice in the East Siberian Sea. The vessel could continue its journey only after a nuclear-powered icebreaker came to its aid. There were also earlier accidents in the region. In 2015, the tankers Svyatoy Petr and Svyatoy Pavel collided in the Laptev Sea. In 2010, the Indiga and Varzuga collided while carrying 26,000 metric tons of diesel. No oil spill was reported. The latest incident comes as Russia is sending more oil tankers through Arctic waters to reach Asian markets. Russia increases Arctic oil shipments Russia sent a fleet of tankers carrying about 8 million barrels of oil through the Arctic Ocean to Asia this summer. That was a sharp increase from July 2025, when only one tanker used the Northern Sea Route to transport crude. The Northern Sea Route stretches about 5,600 km and can reduce the sailing time between Asia and Europe by seven to 10 days. Russia has been trying to increase cargo traffic along the route for years. In 2018, the government set a target of 80 million tons of cargo by 2024 and 200 million tons by 2030. Actual transit volumes were 37 million tons