By Malte Humpert (gCaptain) –
Russia’s main Arctic shipping route is slated to see its first Panamax container vessel this year. The 4,890-TEU box ship, Flying Fish 1, received a permit to transit the country’s Northern Sea Route this summer.
Flying Fish 1 would be the first Panamax container vessel to travel across the Arctic, nearly doubling the previous highpoint set by the 3,600-TEU Venta Maersk in 2018.
The 66,781-dwt vessel provides service as part of Safetrans Line’s Trans-Russia liner loop between St. Petersburg and destinations in China. The vessel looks set to become part of the nascent China-Russia box trade via the Arctic.
The Arctic route allows vessels to avoid the ongoing conflict areas in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden without detouring via Cape Horn.
During summer 2023, Chinese company NewNew Shipping, sent four feedermax ships through the Arctic completing seven voyages between July and December. The shipper expects to expand its offering to a dozen voyages this summer.
One of NewNew Shipping’s vessels, NewNew Polar Bear, was involved in damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline and two subsea telecoms cables between Estonia and Finland.
Safetrans Line acquired the 24-year old Flying Fish 1 in October 2023. Its Ice-1 ice class allows it to navigate all sectors of the Northern Sea Route independently without icebreaker escort in ice-free and light ice conditions between July and October. The permit details suggest a planned round trip voyage between early August and October.
While thick sea ice continues to dominate the route during winter and spring, even non-ice class now routinely transit the route during the summer months. Last summer saw the first-ever Capesize bulker, the 169,159-dwt Gingo, as well as multiple Suezmax oil tankers venture into the Arctic.
Across fourteen voyages Russia sent 1.5 million barrels of crude to China, including multiple trips by non-ice class tankers.
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Russia will push its nuclear-powered icebreakers to sea for up to 270 days a year, increasing workloads as an ageing fleet, sanctions-related delays and unpredictable ice conditions strain Moscow’s ability to escort cargo along the Northern Sea Route.
Ship traffic in the Arctic reached a new milestone in 2025, with 1,812 unique vessels operating inside the Polar Code area, according to new data released by the Arctic Council Working Group on the Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME). The figures mark a 40% increase from 2013, when PAME began tracking traffic through its Arctic Ship Traffic Data (ASTD) system.
NATO will bolster its Arctic presence with a new mission after US President Donald Trump triggered an alliance crisis over his attempts to take Greenland.
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