First container ship attempts Arctic route

A Danish vessel has set sail from Vladivostok aiming to become the first container ship to tackle the Arctic sea route north of Russia

Northern Sea Route
Could be up to 14 days faster than current southern option

Ship will collect data to see if melting sea ice has made route economically viable


Arctic Ocean
RUSSIA
St Petersburg
Vladivostock
AFRICA
Suez Canal
INDIA
CHINA
Southern route

Picture: Google Maps


VENTA MAERSK
Crew: 26 (trained for Arctic)
Built: 2018 (Zhoushan Shipyard, China)
Length/breadth: 200m/35.2m
Cargo: 3,600 TEU* containers
Operating temperature: As low as -25°C
Trial voyage: Ship, carrying cargo of frozen fish and other refrigerated goods, is due to arrive in St Petersburg in mid-September

*Twenty-foot equivalent


Picture: Roger K/MarineTraffic.com

Sources: High North News, The Independent, CNN 
© GRAPHIC NEWS