Beijing sends container ship through melting NE passage halving voyage to UK

Beijing will send a 965ft container ship to the UK this week, establishing the first direct sailing route from China to western Europe via the Arctic.

The inaugural journey via the North Sea Route (NSR) is set to halve the usual 40-day commercial voyage between the two locations, revolutionising East-West trade routes.

The Istanbul Bridge, a Chinese-owned container ship, will on Wednesday set sail from Ningbo-Zhoushan port, the world's largest, to Felixstowe, east Suffolk - and is expected to take only 18 days to reach its destination.

Goods from China have long travelled to Europe around the Cape of Good Hope, but the loss of Arctic sea ice driven by global warming has made the NSR increasingly accessible. 

Icebreakers will be used to clear the path of the test-voyage in the hopes of establishing a regular route via Russia’s Northern Sea Route, linking several ports in Asia and Europe.

China is describing the inaugural journey along the route as a 'new chapter in the evolution of global shipping'.

But the journey, which falls directly within Russian and Chinese security zones, has geopolitical implications, especially amid the ongoing three-and-a-half-year war in Ukraine.

Istanbul Bridge, a Liberian-flagged container ship operated by a Chinese company called Sea Legend, is expected to arrive at Britain's largest container port on October 10. 

Over the past four decades, the Arctic has warmed about four times faster than the global average, resulting in a dramatic reduction in sea ice and creating seasonal windows for commercial shipping .

But even if the route is navigable in summer months, it is still likely to handle only a maximum of a few hundred ships annually.

The shorter journey is expected to reduce carbon emissions by about 50 percent, according to the Global Times.

While shorter voyages can reduce fuel use and lower voyage-level CO₂ emissions, climate experts warn increased traffic in the Arctic increases environmental risks and disturbances to marine mammals. It can also pose heightened safety challenges due to extreme weather and limited supporting infrastructure.

The previous fastest commercial route for China-Europe express shipping was 26 days from Ningbo Zhoushan to Wilhelmshaven in Germany. The route began operations last year; most take in several stops and travel through the Suez Canal.

For the past few days, the Istanbul Bridge has been picking up its load of 4,900 containers along China’s eastern seaboard. 

It will head north for the Bering Strait on Wednesday to begin its voyage to Europe. 

From east Suffolk, it will head to Rotterdam in the Netherlands and Hamburg in Germany before finishing its journey in Gdansk, Poland.