- Baltic Sea
- Atlantic
- White Sea 

Furthermore, the cooperation and common dialogue among the ports are not adequate and competition dominates. While there is no need to eliminate competition, the region suffers if its ports cannot cooperate at some level on issues that are beneficial to all of them, such as wider regional and sectoral planning, and addressing institutional and organisational issues of mutual interest.  

The first STBR phase has taken steps to improve this cooperation by supporting the formation of the Barents Seaport Forum among the main ports of the Region. STBR II will continue the progress accomplished in the first phase and supports the Forum with following measures

1. Creating a place where common problems and emerging issues can be discussed, such as sea transport in winter, safety at sea, stricter environmental requirements, developments in telematics and logistics. The dialogue and exchanges of experiences benefit all and help in the adoption of modern sea transport technologies throughout the region.

2. Promoting of port services in the Region which can be made more efficiently through a joint action. 

3. Developing the Barents concept for seaport collaboration, including the Motorways of the Seas, which Region's ports are eventually willing to adopt in order to be competitive. The above measures, 1 and 2, create the basis and capacities for adopting the concept. The concept relies on a network of stakeholders that are not only interested in cooperation but also see it as a necessary precondition for improving efficiency and maintaining competitiveness of the sea transport in the region.

• Per Munkerud, Nordland County Council
• Halvard Pettersen, Port of Tromsö
• Leif Åberg, Port of Luleå
• Nicolay Chernyakov, Murmansk Commercial Seaport
• Kari Himanen, Port of Oulu
• Marko Mäenpää, STBR II Secretariat