In a notable sign of significant climatic changes in the Arctic, two major container ships recently passed each other just 750 nautical miles from the North Pole. This marked the first time such an encounter has occurred in this region. Both ships are engaged in transporting goods between Chinese ports and Saint Petersburg in Russia.
The ships crossed paths on Wednesday night at nearly 80 degrees north latitude, east of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, moving in opposite directions and coming within a few nautical miles of each other.
Source: Peter Faas
The Flying Fish 1, the first Panamax container ship to navigate the Arctic, is traveling from Saint Petersburg to Qingdao, China. This vessel, measuring 294 meters in length and carrying nearly 5 000 containers, has set a new record for the largest container ship to traverse Russia’s Northern Sea Route.
This summer has been pivotal for container shipping on this route. Just a week before, the NewNew Star became the largest container ship to navigate the Arctic, but it was soon surpassed by the Flying Fish 1.
Source: Shipatlas
The NewNew Star, carrying up to 3 534 TEU, is en route from Nansha, China to Saint Petersburg.
Both vessels are operated by companies based in China or Hong Kong. Aside from Danish Maersk’s Venta Maersk trial voyage in 2018, Chinese vessels have largely dominated Arctic container shipping.
Last summer saw seven full transits by four different container ships, a number expected to more than double this year, with increasing vessel sizes.
Flying Fish 1’s owner, EZ Safetrans Logistics, also holds Arctic permits for two other Panamax vessels, SFT Turkey and SFT Egypt.
While experts had previously been skeptical about regular container shipping through the Arctic, the success of EZ Safetrans Logistics and Yangpu NewNew Shipping Company’s expanding operations suggests that limited Arctic container shipping is becoming increasingly viable during the summer and fall navigation seasons.
