Chinese Panamax Containership Crosses Arctic in Just Six Days on Emerging Europe-Asia Shortcut

By Malte Humpert (gCaptain) –

A Chinese-operated Panamax container ship steamed across Russia’s Northern Sea Route in just 6 days underscoring the emergence of a faster Europe-Asia shipping route. The full crossing of the Polar region from the waters above Norway to the Bering Sea took an additional 24 hours.

Istanbul Bridge departed from St. Petersburg on August 18 and is expected in Qingdao on September 12, completing the Europe to Asia route via the Arctic in just 25 days. Later this month the 4,890 TEU vessel will inaugurate a new China-Europe Arctic Express operated by Haijie Shipping Company.

The Arctic Express is scheduled to set off on September 20, connecting three ports in China, Ningbo-Zhoushan, Qingdao, and Shanghai, with major hubs in Europe, including Felixstowe, Rotterdam, and Hamburg. The 18-day trip will be the first of its kind resembling a seasonal liner service.

Istanbul Bridge returns to the Arctic for a second year in a row after becoming the first Panamax containership, then named Flying Fish 1, last summer. The vessel’s transit along the Northern Sea Route is one of the fastest crossings with the container ship recording speeds up to 18.4 knots. Across the length of Russia’s main Arctic shipping lane it averaged around 15 knots. 

The quick pace comes despite persistent sea ice in the eastern reaches of the route, which thwarted non ice-class LNG carriers over the weekend from proceeding along the route. With a low 1C ice-class Istanbul Bridge was able to maintain between 12 and 14 knots even through the sea ice in the East Siberian Sea and closely hugged the coastline into the Chukchi Sea avoiding much of the ice covered waters.

The vessel is one of close to a dozen containerships that have passed through the region this summer. At times several box carriers traveled in convoy, including Newnew Polar Bear and Newnew Panda 1 last month.

With the new Arctic Express Haijie Shipping Company aims to leapfrog other operators for the busy holiday rush into Europe. Chinese merchandise routinely departs at the end of September and early October to arrive in Europe in November in time to hit the shelves for the Christmas season. 

With high traffic volume unloading at the main European hubs can at times be delayed during the busy season. By using the Arctic route and connecting Ningbo to Felixstowe in a planned 18 days – compared to 40-50 days for the regular Suez Canal route – Istanbul Bridge bridge is set to arrive before the main rush later in Fall. 

The company also points out that with a quicker delivery vendors stand to be paid sooner reducing inventory costs. According to Haijie the initial Arctic Express voyage has been fully booked for weeks reflecting high demand likely from vendors with time sensitive cargo.

Haijie aims to expand service on the route next year and high ice-class container ships may extend the navigation season in the future. For now the summer shipping window remains narrow, focusing on the months of August, September, and October.

None of the mainstream box ship operators, including CMA CGM and MSC, have conducted any trips via the Arctic. The sole voyage by a large Western company came in August 2018 when Maersk sent the 3,596 TEU Venta Maersk on a one-off voyage from the Far East to St Petersburg. Most major shippers have publicly stepped away from shipping via the Arctic for environmental reasons.

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