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First regular Arctic container service China-Europe Arctic Express set to debut this week, ship operator tells GT_我的网站

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The first cargo ship of the China-Europe Arctic Express berths at Ningbo Zhoushan Port in East China's Zhejiang Province on December 6, 2025. Photo: VCG
A Chinese shipping company has confirmed with the Global Times the plan to launch a regular container service via Russia's Northern Sea Route to Europe this week, marking a new Arctic option for Asia-Europe trade once it sets sail.
Chinese container shipping company Sea Legend Shipping told the Global Times on Tuesday that its vessel Dubai Tower, originally scheduled to depart Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in East China's Zhejiang Province, on August 15, has had its departure adjusted because of weather conditions. The company said it is making internal arrangements for the maiden voyage of the China-Europe Arctic Express Route.
According to industry observers, the move reflects growing interest in Arctic shipping as global logistics networks continue to diversify beyond traditional canal routes. As polar ice retreats and seasonal navigation windows widen, the Arctic is emerging as a practical alternative for some Asia-Europe shipments, particularly those seeking to avoid congested or geopolitically sensitive sea lanes.
On Monday, the Financial Times reported that Sea Legend would launch the first regular container shipping service through the Arctic this week. The report said the company has branded the service the "Ice Silk Road," a reference to the historical Silk Road linking China and Europe.
The move comes as Arctic shipping increases amid rapidly shrinking sea ice. The Northern Sea Route recorded a record 23 transits last summer, up from 15 in 2024, according to figures cited by the FT.
Sea Legend told the Global Times that, compared with traditional China-Europe routes that can take around 40 days, the Arctic passage could cut transit time by nearly half, reducing the journey to about 20 days under direct service conditions.
The inaugural voyage is expected to call at Qingdao Port, Shanghai Port, Taicang Port and Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in China before continuing to European ports including Teesport and Felixstowe in the UK, Hamburg in Germany and Gdynia in Poland. The final domestic calling sequence may still change due to typhoon-related weather conditions.
The service will carry cargo including energy storage containers and related components, power batteries and new energy vehicles - goods that typically require faster transit, stable schedules and controlled transport conditions.
Sea Legend said the Arctic route could offer exporters a new solution in terms of both speed and reliability, as traditional canal and mainline routes face growing uncertainty from congestion, geopolitical disruptions and longer port waiting times.
The company also said the route has cooperation agreements with destination terminals including Felixstowe, Rotterdam, Wilhelmshaven and Antwerp, giving vessels priority berthing and a "green channel" advantage that could reduce anchorage delays and logistics costs.
Zhong Zhechao, an international logistics service expert told the Global Times on Tuesday that the move highlights rising interest in using the Arctic region for shipping, with Arctic shipping gradually becoming a practical alternative in the global logistics network as melting ice expands seasonal navigation windows and shipping lines seek to avoid congested and geopolitically sensitive sea lanes.
For exporters - especially cross-border e-commerce firms, manufacturers of seasonal products, and new energy companies - shorter shipping times could ease inventory pressure and reduce working-capital costs by allowing more flexible production and sales planning.
Zhong said this may be particularly valuable for companies racing to meet European sales seasons, as shorter transit times improve responsiveness to overseas demand.
The company also said the Arctic's low-temperature environment may be especially suitable for transporting new energy products such as batteries and energy storage systems, which require heightened attention to safety and thermal-risk considerations during transit.
Looking ahead, Sea Legend aims to achieve roughly four months of stable annual operation within the next three to five years, with a longer-term goal of year-round Arctic navigation within five to ten years.
The launch underscores how Chinese shipping firms are accelerating their Arctic deployment, turning what was once a long-term vision into operational reality.
According to the Xinhua News Agency, in September 2025, Ningbo-Zhoushan Port launched its first China-Europe Arctic container express route. The move was expected to provide strong support for trade enterprises to expand into new international logistics channels, the port said.
In recent years, Arctic shipping routes have increasingly come under the spotlight in the international community and have the potential to become important routes in international trade, Lin Jian, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told a press conference in September 2025.
China stands ready to work with Russia and other Arctic states as well as interested countries to strengthen international cooperation on the building and operation of basic infrastructure along Arctic shipping routes and jointly advance the development and exploration of the routes and protect the environment there, Lin said.
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B | London, Oct 18 (UNI) "The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida" by Sri Lankan Shehan Karunatilaka, a supernatural satire set amid a murderous civil war in the island nation, has won the Booker Prize.

The novel is about a photographer who wakes up dead, with a week to ask his friends to find his photos and expose the brutality of war, BBC and other media reported.

Camilla, the Queen Consort, presented the prize, and the author said it had been "an honour and a privilege" to be on the shortlist.

Karunatilaka said as he accepted his prize: "My hope is that in the not too distant future... Sri Lanka has understood that these ideas of corruption and race-baiting and cronyism have not worked and will never work."

The writer said he decided in 2009 to write "a ghost story where the dead could offer their perspective" after the end of the Sri Lankan civil war, "when there was a raging debate over how many civilians died and whose fault it was".

"I hope it's in print in 10 years... if it is, I hope it's written in a Sri Lanka that learns from its stories, and that Seven Moons will be in the fantasy section of the bookshop, next to the dragons, the unicorns and will not be mistaken for realism or political satire," the BBC reported

He added that he had "self-censored" a couple of short stories after author Salman Rushdie was stabbed in August, having faced years of death threats for his novel "The Satanic Verses", which some Muslims see as blasphemous.

"I was in the process of publishing a collection of short stories when this incident happened, and I discovered a couple which I don't think was offensive to any religion," Karunatilaka said.

"But my wife said, can you not do that? You've got two young kids. This story is not that good. Just leave it out."

He added that "this is something that hangs over all of us if we're writing in South Asia, especially writing about politics or religion", the BBC said.

Head judge Neil MacGregor praised the "scope and the skill, the daring, the audacity and hilarity" of the novel, calling it an "afterlife noir" which "takes the reader on a rollercoaster journey through life and death".

He said the judges' decision had been unanimous, adding all of the shortlisted books were "all really about one question, and that is what's the point of an individual life?"

The prestigious £50,000 prize, for a single work of fiction published in the UK in English, also gives the other five writers on the shortlist £2,500 each.

"The Seven Moons of Maali" is Karunatilaka's second novel, having previously won awards including the Commonwealth Book Prize for his debut book Chinaman, which was called the "second best cricket book of all time" by cricketers' almanac Wisden.

Born in 1975, the writer has also worked as an advertising copywriter, and his songs, scripts and stories have been published in Rolling Stone, GQ and National Geographic.

MacGregor, a former director of London's National Gallery and the British Museum, added that the judges read all 170 books put forward for the prize, then whittled them down to 30. They then re-read those, before deciding on the final six, which they read for a third time, the report said.

The other nominees were: "Glory" by NoViolet Bulawayo, "The Trees" by Percival Everett, "Treacle Walker" by Alan Garner, "Small Things Like These" by Claire Keegan and "Oh William!" by Elizabeth Strout.

The Booker-winning novel tells the story of the photographer of its title, who in 1990 wakes up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office. With no idea who killed him, Maali has seven moons to contact the people he loves most and lead them to a hidden cache of photos of civil war atrocities that will rock Sri Lanka, the Daily Mirror reported.

The judges were unanimous in their decision to award the prize to Karunatilaka, according to the chair.

Receiving his prize, Karunatilaka addressed the people of Sri Lanka in Tamil and Sinhalese. He summarised what he said in English: “I write these books for you… Let’s keep sharing these stories.”

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida is published by the independent press Sort of Books. This year is the first time a book by the publisher has been longlisted for the prize.

Karunatilaka has become the second Sri Lankan-born author to win, following Michael Ondaatje, who won in 1992 with "The English Patient".

In his Guardian review, Tomiwa Owolade said the book’s “scenarios are often absurd … but executed with a humour and pathos that ground the reader”. He added: “Karunatilaka has done artistic justice to a terrible period in his country’s history.”

Karunatilaka, was born in Galle, Sri Lanka, in 1975 and grew up in Colombo.

UNI MR。