China began a regular weekly summer container shipping to Europe via Arctic waters on Saturday, offering exporters a seasonal alternative that can cut the journey from Ningbo to the United Kingdom to about 20 days.
The container ship “Dubai Tower”, operated by Haijie Shipping, departed Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in east China’s Zhejiang Province on Saturday, marking the start of regular weekly operations on the China-Europe Arctic Express following a trial voyage last year.
The service will sail along Russia’s Northern Sea Route before calling at ports including Felixstowe in Britain, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Hamburg in Germany and Gdynia in Poland.
The first voyage is carrying Chinese-made energy-storage units, solar equipment and other high-value, temperature-sensitive goods from manufacturing hubs in the Yangtze River Delta, targeting European peak-season demand.