First scheduled container service between Europe and Asia will significantly reduce voyage times
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The Arctic is emerging as a viable alternative to the world’s traditional shipping routes as melting polar ice shortens the journey between Europe and Asia and vessels seek to avoid maritime chokepoints.
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Sea Legend, a Chinese container shipping company focusing on the Turkish and North African markets, will this week launch the first regular container shipping service through the Arctic.
The weekly service will skirt the north Russian coast on its journey between Ningbo on China’s east coast and Felixstowe in the United Kingdom. The company has branded the service the “Ice Silk Road” in reference to the Silk Road trading route that once connected China and Europe.
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The voyage will cut the usual 40-day sailing time between the two ports by about half, depending on the conditions in the Arctic Circle. The move follows a record 23 transits through the Northern Sea Route last summer, up from 15 voyages in 2024.
Sea ice melts far enough south in summer to allow ships to pass without needing icebreaker capabilities.
Despite geopolitical rivalry over control of the region, shipping companies are becoming increasingly interested in the route as a way to avoid chokepoints such as the Bab al-Mandab Strait into the Red Sea, where the Houthis, an Iranian-backed military group, renewed threats last month.