China Doubles Down on Arctic Container Shipping Dispatching Second Panamax

(gCaptain) – A week after a Panamax container ship became the first vessel of its size to successfully transit the Arctic, another Chinese shipping operator dispatched a second Panamax box carrier.

The 4,363 TEU NewNew Panda departed from Nansha near Hong Kong in southern China on September 19. In contrast to last week’s Flying Fish 1, which had a low ice-class, NewNew Panda is a regular container ship. Without any ice classification the vessel becomes the largest conventional container ship to attempt an Arctic crossing. 

After traveling up the country’s coastline and passing through the south of the Korean peninsula it has now reached the Bering Strait. The 264 meter-long vessel received a permit from Russia’s Northern Sea Route authority to travel along the Arctic’s main corridor between October 1-15. 

Its navigation permit limits it to ice-free waters, with or without icebreaker escort. With some early fall sea ice forming around Wrangel Island in the Far East the vessel will likely make a wide pass around that archipelago.

NewNew Panda is operated by Torgmoll, a Chinese logistics and transport company offering international intermodal shipping services. It provides a China-Russia container liner service between China and Russia’s St. Petersburg port.

Its traditional route takes it via the Suez Canal or the southern tip of Africa. But the company recently announced that it will be using Russia’s Northern Sea Route during the summer months. The route provides for up to 40 percent distance savings compared to routes across the southern latitudes. 

The vessel is expected to arrive in the Baltic Sea port on October 22 for a total journey time of around 4 ½ weeks, slightly longer than Flying Fish 1’s record-pace. Its journey from St. Petersburg to northern China took only three weeks at an average speed of 16 knots, even across the entirety of the Arctic; a testament to how little sea ice remains in the high Arctic Ocean. 

Container ships aren’t the only large vessels passing through the Arctic this summer. The transport of crude oil via the polar region, unthinkable even a few summers ago, is becoming increasingly established. The first such voyage on a non-ice class crude oil carrier only occurred last year. 

This summer has already seen 15 voyages by crude oil tankers carrying 10.7 million barrels million barrels from Russian ports in the Baltics as well as Murmansk to China. That figure will likely increase in the remaining 4-6 weeks of fall navigation season.

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