Chinese shipping company launches cargo route through the Arctic Ocean

It should be almost three weeks faster than going through the Suez Canal when ships from China travel across the Arctic Ocean to Great Britain. From now on the route will be served regularly. But experts see this as nothing more than a niche.

The Chinese shipping company Sea Legend is starting an “express cargo route” through the Arctic Ocean tomorrow, Saturday. The journey from Ningbo on the East China Sea to Felixstowe in Great Britain is expected to take around 20 days - half as long as the journey through the Suez Canal. The shipping company wants to operate the route once a week, this year until the beginning of October. Until then, freighters can often sail the Arctic Ocean without icebreakers.

The ship "Dubai Tower" will leave the port of Ningbo on Saturday night, a port official said. Sea Legend tested the trip from Ningbo to Felixstowe via the Northeast Passage last year; According to the shipping company, the journey took 20 days.

Other shipping companies have also tried out the Northeast Passage along the Russian coast - the first shipping company was Maersk from Denmark in 2018. Last year, according to corporate insurer Allianz Commercial, 23 ships sailed the route. It is shorter than the route through the Suez Canal, so saves time and fuel and is also safer.

However, the route is usually only usable in summer - and many shipping companies have signed a voluntary commitment not to use it because this could accelerate the melting of the ice. Hapag-Llyod from Germany, MSC from Switzerland and CMA CGM from France signed the voluntary commitment. “Increasing shipping traffic on the Arctic sea routes poses great risks and potentially devastating effects on the environment,” says the website of the environmental organization Ocean Conservancy.

Route is a niche

According to analysts, the Arctic is an important trade route, especially for China. In 2018, Beijing published its plans for better access to the region through a “Polar Silk Road”.

Currently, one freighter per week represents "less than 0.5 percent of the weekly container freight from East and Southeast Asia to Northern Europe," explained analyst Niels Rasmussen from the shipping lobby group Bimco. The limited time during which transport is possible reduces this share to less than 0.1 percent of trade between the two regions per year.

ING analyst Rico Luman also said the route would remain a niche for ships from countries that are friendly with Russia. He does not see the route as a real competitor to the conventional route for at least the next ten years.