China-Russia Announce Plans for Five Ice-Capable Containerships for Year Round Arctic Service Russia and China's collaboration in the Arctic continues, now with new plans to build high ice-class containerships to begin year-round shipments on the Northern Sea Route. Though the details, including the size of the vessels and who will build them, remain scarce.
Northern Sea Route Saw Seven Containership Voyages in 2023, Including Controversial Chinese Container Ship Northern Sea Route shipping activity during the summer of 2023 included the first regular container service between Asia and Europe. But the novel service did not transpire without controversy as one of the vessels, ChinasNewNew Polar Bearis suspected of damaging the Balticconnector pipeline. Results of a Finnish request for inquiry with Chinese counterparts remain pending.
Chinese Container Ship Completes First Round Trip Voyage Across Arctic A Chinese container ship has completed a three-months round trip voyage from the Baltic Sea to China and back. It is the first step in establishing regular, albeit small-scale, container liner service utilizing Russia’s Northern Sea Route.
