Play store
A Chinese container vessel has set sail for Europe through the Arctic, part of new weekly service on a route that allows vessels to avoid the Red Sea, where shipping has been targeted by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.
The “Dubai Tower” left the eastern port city of Ningbo on Saturday evening heading north, where it will pass through the Bering Strait, then turn west through the frigid waters along Russia’s northern coast.
It is expected to reach Felixstowe in the United Kingdom on September 7, followed by stops in Hamburg, Germany and Gdynia, Poland later that week, according to a timetable published by Sea Legend.
The Northern Sea Route (NSR) from China to Europe is significantly faster than that through the Suez Canal and allows vessels to avoid the Red Sea. But the route is only accessible during the time of the year when the ice is melted enough to allow transits without icebreakers.
Global shipping is heavily disrupted by war in the Middle East, sparked by U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.
Other shipping companies have transited the Arctic passage before, with Denmark’s Maersk the first to do so in 2018.
Last year, 23 container ships transited through, up from 15 in 2024, according to shipping analysis from business insurer Allianz Commercial. Source AFP