China and Russia expand Arctic shipping

China’s NewNew Shipping Line and Russia’s Rosatom are moving ahead with plans for five large ice-class container ships designed to support year-round commercial shipping on the Northern Sea Route (NSR), GCaptain reports.

The planned Arc7 vessels would carry more than 4,800 TEU and be 255 metres long. They would be able to independently break through first-year ice up to 1.7 metres thick. In heavier ice conditions, their 35-metre beam would allow them to use channels opened by Russia’s Project 22220 nuclear icebreakers.

The project is part of a wider plan to develop a dedicated Arctic container fleet. However, the original target to put the first Arc7 vessel into service by 2027 now looks uncertain, as the ships are still under development and there is no indication that construction has started.

NewNew Shipping is also expanding its Arctic fleet with six separate 4,800-TEU vessels. Four are scheduled to enter service in October 2026 on a China–St. Petersburg route, while two more are planned for June 2027. The company aims to make two Northern Sea Route voyages per month and move 1.2 million tonnes of cargo through the Arctic during the 2027 summer season.

NewNew has already increased its presence in the region. In August, Xin Xin Hai 1 became the first Chinese container ship to reach Murmansk via the Northern Sea Route, carrying around 500 containers of automotive components from China.

The Arc7 ships are intended to extend Arctic container shipping into the autumn and winter. However, attracting enough cargo could remain a challenge.

 

Picture: Rosatom