China and Korea Send Container Ships Over the Northern Sea Route as Suez and Hormuz Stay Risky

The Arctic has its first scheduled weekly container service between China and Europe. Chinese carrier Sealegend Shipping is running what it calls the Arctic Express 2026, with eight sailings between August 12 and October 27 using seven ships. Cargo gathers at Ningbo-Zhoushan, fed from Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Taicang, Fuzhou and Nansha. It discharges at Felixstowe, Rotterdam, Wilhelmshaven and Gdynia. Transit time to Hamburg is quoted at 20 to 22 days.

Korea is testing it too. The PanStar Arco left Busan on August 22 with used cars, auto parts and chemicals. It reached Felixstowe on September 12, Rotterdam on September 13 and Gdansk on September 16. It's the first Korean test voyage on the route since 2016.

The distance argument

The case for the Northern Sea Route is geography. Shanghai to Rotterdam over the top of Russia is about 13,000 kilometers. Through Suez it's about 20,300. Around the Cape it's longer again. Under normal conditions, the Arctic run can save more than 20 days against a Suez voyage.

This year the other routes aren't normal. Hormuz has been closed since February. The Houthis now hold the Yemeni side of Bab el-Mandeb. Carriers are moving services back to Suez, but carefully, and many Asia-Europe loops still go around Africa. Against a Cape voyage of 40 days or more, a 20-day Arctic crossing looks very attractive, even with its limits.

The limits are real

The ships are small. Sealegend's vessels range from 1,528 to 4,890 TEU. The biggest, the Istanbul Bridge, is a fraction of the 20,000 to 24,000 TEU ships that run the main Asia-Europe loops. Ice-class hulls cost more, burn more fuel and carry less.

The season is short. The route is usable for container ships roughly from July to November, and even then it needs Russian icebreaker support for parts of the passage. Russia has more than 20 icebreakers that can work the route. That also means Russia controls access, pilotage and permits.

The cargo is specific. Most Chinese cargo on the route so far has been electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, renewable energy equipment and machinery. These are high-value goods where saving time justifies higher costs per box. Bulk consumer goods for European retail still go by the big ships.

Who is using it and who isn't

China is the clear driver. Twenty-nine Chinese vessels reportedly used the route last year, and at least seven more container ships were scheduled for the 2026 season on top of the weekly service. Russian cargo on the route is on track to pass 40 million tonnes this year, led by energy exports from the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas.

Korea's government has launched a study of whether the route can work commercially in the 2030s. Japan has no comparable strategy.

Europe's major carriers are staying away. Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd have avoided the route for years, on environmental grounds and because of sanctions and political risk tied to Russia. Several big European brands have also promised customers they won't ship through the Arctic.

What it means

The Northern Sea Route isn't going to replace Suez. The ships are too small and the season too short. But it's no longer an experiment. It's a scheduled service carrying real Chinese exports into major European ports, with Russian icebreakers leading the way.

That makes it a strategic link as much as a commercial one. Every Hormuz or Red Sea crisis strengthens the case for it in Beijing and Moscow. And every year it runs, it moves China and Russia a little closer together at sea.