Padmesh Prabhune –
A large container ship has completed its first Arctic voyage, giving rise to great interest in shipping circles. The 294 m long Panamax Ship Flying Fish 1 sailed from St Petersburg in the Baltic Sea to China in just over three weeks, cutting around two weeks off the conventional route via the Suez Canal.
The ship operated by the Hong Kong based EZ Safetrans Logistics, departed from St. Petersburg on September 03 reaching Shanghai on September 26,2024.
Flying Fish 1 that can accommodate 4890 TEUs has set a new benchmark for container shipping in the Arctic.
The Flying Fish 1, on its route met another Chinese container vessel, marking the first encounter between two container ships in the Arctic, only 850 nm from the North Pole, with no sea ice seen.
It maintained a speed of 16 knots along the entire route, which shows the changed Arctic ice conditions due to global warming.
The ship crossed the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea and exited via the Bering Strait close to Alaska without an icebreaker, just six days after entering Russian Arctic waters.
Once completed, the voyage from the Baltic Sea to Shanghai will be around 8000 nm long, about 4000 hm shorter than the Suez Canal Route. The detour many vessels take around South Africa due to the instability in the Red Sea adds an additional 4000 miles to the normal route to Asia.
Experts in the industry maintain that ideally shipping services between Europe and Asia via the Arctic are confined to a 3 to 4-month window, but as reports suggest, the Arctic ice is receding; so it is very much likely that more operators might explore this route for future opportunities.
Marex Media