Chinese Companies Dispatch Multiple Container Ships Along Arctic Route For Faster Europe Trade

With summer navigation season in the Arctic ramping up, several Chinese companies have dispatched container ships through the Arctic aiming to take advantage of the shortcut to and from Europe. 

Chinese operator Newnew Shipping continues to expand its Arctic offering since first starting the service in 2023. Last year the company completed 13 voyages across Russia’s Northern Sea Route carrying around 20,000 containers. The company currently has two box carriers transiting the Arctic with at least three more of its vessels holding permits for the route. 

Newnew Polar Bear departed from Shanghai on July 16 setting course for the Arctic following a stop in Russia’s Far East Nakhodka Bay. It is expected in the Russian port of Akhangelsk by August 15. 

This is the vessel’s first return to the Arctic and European waters since 2023 when it was involved in the Balticconnector incident in the Baltic Sea. Investigations concluded that Newnew Polar Bear dragged its anchor for hundreds of nautical miles causing damage to the seafloor infrastructure. The ship’s captain currently remains on trial in China. 

The 3,534 TEU Newnew Star is en route from Tianjin, where it departed on July 20, to Saint Petersburg. The voyage will take around 4 weeks compared to approximately 40-50 days for a traditional routing via the Suez Canal. 

Hui Da 9, a 2,500 TEU feeder vessel, operated by Fujian Huihai Shipping Co Ltd, departed from Russia’s Saint Petersburg on July 20 with destination Rizhao in eastern China. The company is a new entrant into shipping via Russia’s Northern Sea Route. The Arctic shortcut can shave around 3 weeks off a trip between Northern Europe and East Asia.

At least another dozen container ships have received permits for Russia’s Arctic shipping route, including returning vessels Newnew Panda 1, Xin Xin Tian 2 and Xin Xin Hai 1 and Istanbul Bridge (formerly Flying Fish 1). Last year Flying Fish 1 became the largest (4,890 TEU) and first Panamax container ship to travel across the Arctic.

Arctic container shipping stands to receive a further booth next month when another Chinese niche operator, Sea Legend Shipping, expects to launch a liner service between China and northern Europe.

The seasonal offering consists of an 18-day trip between Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo (all China) Felixstowe (England), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Hamburg (Germany) and Gdansk (Poland). It will be the first service of its kind connecting several Asian and European ports along the same route. Operators are using both low ice-class container ships as well as conventional, no ice-class ships. 

Currently container shipping via the Arctic is limited to a period of 4-5 months between July and November. But Chinese companies aim to launch year-round routes via the Northern Sea Route by 2030. Working with Russia’s state corporation Rosatom, Newnew Shipping expects to place an order for five Arc7 ice-class container ships, each with a capacity of 4,400 TEU. 

“We are currently working on issues of placing orders for the design and construction of Arc7 ice-class container ships with a capacity of 4,400 TEU. We are deciding on a shipyard that will be able to undertake their construction, and are studying various measures of support for the project by Russian and Chinese authorities,” a representative of Rosatom, Vladimir Panov recently stated. 

If the route can be turned into a year-round shipping corridor remains to be seen. Russian officials have repeatedly announced plans to facilitate year-round shipping along the route but thus far only a small number of test voyages have transited the route during winter.

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