The Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in Zhejiang Province, east China, launched its first China-Europe Arctic container express route on Monday, marking the first time the port has opened a route to the Arctic Ocean. According to port authorities, the move will provide strong support for foreign trade enterprises to access new international logistics channels.
Sun Xuejun, chairman of Zhejiang Seaport Logistics Group Co., Ltd., said the new route was specifically developed for cross-border e-commerce and high-value goods. The route passes directly through the Northeast Arctic passage to Europe, reducing the transit time from Zhoushan Port to Britain’s Felixstowe Port to just 18 days. This is much faster compared with the China-Europe freight train (about 25 days), the Suez Canal route (about 40 days), and the Cape of Good Hope route (about 50 days).
The maiden voyage of the new route is scheduled to arrive in Felixstowe on October 10. The shipment includes daily necessities, clothing, spare machinery parts, as well as high-value goods such as energy storage cabinets and power batteries. Once in Felixstowe, the products will be distributed across Europe, according to Ningbo customs authorities.