THE KARA SEA ROUTE AND THE PHOENIX MERCHANT ADVENTURERS LTD. OF NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE

The article discusses the activities of the Phoenix Merchant Adventurers Ltd. of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in terms of developing shipping on the Kara Sea route to the Yenisei. After a series of early attempts to establish a navigable passage to the Ob’ and Yenisei, this company resumed British activity in the Siberian Arctic. The authors have used a large number of historical sources both Russian and British, which reveal the story behind the company. The article focuses on describing the voyages of the company, the assortment of imported goods and the reasons as to why the company was dissolved. Other aspects on which the article focuses include the duty-free import of European goods to Siberia, the diplomacy of Sir Robert Morier and the political and economic attitudes towards the Kara Sea route and the prospects of Anglo-Russian trade both in Britain and in Russia. The further fate of the company’s steamer Phoenix is also discussed in the article. An expedition in 2015 discovered the wreck of the steamer on the Yenisei.