Russian President Vladimir Putin last month signed a new maritime doctrine focusing the country’s naval efforts in the Arctic, Atlantic regions. The document was signed aboard a Russian frigate and was ostensibly in reaction to “NATO’s active development and the alliance approaching our borders,” according to Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia’s newly established Arctic Commission.

With a focus on the Arctic and Atlantic regions as well as shipbuilding, Russia is clearly focusing on the expanding Northern Sea Route, a new shipping lane in the Arctic that could prove very lucrative for the Federation to hold sway over according to Eye on the Arctic:

The amendments of the doctrine of 2001 includes a new section on shipbuilding. It calls for long-term technological independence in the fields of shipbuilding and naval equipment in accordance with the state armament program. Rogozin linked the new shipbuilding section to the growth of this industry in Russia over the past 10-15 years on a scale comparable to what was happening during the Soviet period.

The new doctrine also outlines a naval strategy for the Antarctic region where, according to Rogozin, recent events are “of considerable interest to Russia.”