China’s Arctic shipping moves from trial to schedule

At least six Chinese operators are lining up container and bulk voyages through Russia’s Northern Sea Route this summer, in what is shaping up to be the busiest season yet for Chinese traffic on the Arctic corridor, gCaptain reported Monday.

The container services alone account for roughly 20,000 TEU of capacity, with some vessels scheduled for a second Arctic voyage later in the season. Chinese operators have in past summers largely used the route to reach Russian ports in the Arctic and Baltic, but the network is now pushing west, adding Felixstowe, Hamburg and Rotterdam. gCaptain

Sea Legend Shipping and NewNew Shipping are expected to be the main container operators. Sea Legend is launching what it calls its first seasonal liner-type Arctic service, with eight weekly sailings from eastern China, beginning with the Dubai Tower’s departure on August 15. NewNew Shipping will run the NewNew Panda 1, Xin Xin Hai 1 and Xin Xin Hai 2 on services to European and Russian ports.

Both Moscow and Beijing are actively supporting the traffic. Rosatom, which manages the route, said Friday it had issued transit permits for seven Chinese vessels bound for Europe. China’s Ministry of Transport, meanwhile, is rolling out 72-hour ice forecasts covering the route from the Bering Strait to the Kara and Barents seas — the first time Chinese vessels will have predictive rather than observational ice data.

The commercial argument remains distance. An Arctic transit from Shanghai to Rotterdam saves roughly 3,000 nautical miles and 15 days against Suez, and around 6,500 miles and 25 days against the Cape of Good Hope routing many carriers have used since the Red Sea attacks. The route is still limited by a short navigation window, ice conditions and thin emergency infrastructure.