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Chinese shipping company set to launch regular Arctic service_我的网站

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一 | 上周我去了两个很多人都陌生的地方，甚至不知道在哪里。齐齐哈尔的名气大一些，加格达奇就很少有人知道了。东北有几个独有的少数民族，比如鄂伦春族、鄂温克族、达斡尔族、赫哲族以及起源于东北的满族，这几个民族除了满族之外都是人口很少的，特别是鄂伦春，目前不到一万人，居住在离加格达奇很近的鄂伦春自治旗。

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 is set to launch a regular container service to Europe via Russia's Northern Sea Route, probably this week, with eight weekly sailings planned during this year's Arctic navigation season - part of a broader push by Chinese carriers to move Arctic shipping from sporadic voyages toward larger-scale and more regular commercial operations.
The service is expected to add a faster supplementary corridor for Eurasian trade, shortening voyages between Chinese ports and key Baltic gateways by nearly one-third, as businesses seek more diversified and resilient supply chains amid rising risks along traditional maritime routes, industry analysts said.
Sea Legend Shipping is launching its 2026 China-Europe Arctic Express, or CAX, service this month. According to the company's published schedule, the service will run eight fixed weekly sailings from August 15 through October 3, using seven vessels and targeting transit times of around 20 to 22 days, according to media reports.
Unlike previous Arctic container voyages that were largely arranged as individual sailings, the new service has fixed departure dates, dedicated vessel deployment and a planned transit time, effectively putting the commercial repeatability of Arctic container shipping to the test, analysts said.
From a single-voyage test in 2025 to regular weekly sailings during the 2026 Arctic navigation window, CAX is entering a much broader test of commercial operations. Chinese experts said the start of regular services carries multiple implications, from diversifying shipping routes and reducing exposure to geopolitical risks, to supporting regional trade cooperation and economic development.
The new service will consolidate cargo from multiple Chinese ports before calling at Ningbo-Zhoushan Port and sailing for Felixstowe in the UK, with connections to other European ports including Rotterdam, Netherlands, Wilhelmshaven in Germany, and Poland's Gdynia, according to an article published by Chinese maritime industry portal CNSS.
According to media report, Sea Legend has deployed seven container vessels ranging from 1,384 to 4,890 twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs. The first sailing is to be operated by the Dubai Tower, which had originally been scheduled to leave Ningbo on August 15 and due to arrive at Felixstowe on September 7, according to the company's published CAX schedule.
Russia's state atomic energy corporation Rosatom has issued permits for seven Sea Legend vessels to transit the Northern Sea Route, RT reported on August 8, citing Rosatom CEO Aleksey Likhachev.
More than a shortcut
Traditional shipping routes still hold advantages in capacity, infrastructure and established networks, but rising geopolitical tensions have pushed up fuel and operating costs on some corridors, while tighter control over key ports has added to concerns over global shipping security, said Hu Qimu, a professor at the Maritime Silk Road Institute of Huaqiao University.
"Against this backdrop, developing alternative corridors and building a more diversified shipping network have become an increasingly necessary choice," Hu told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Growing trade between East Asia and Europe is providing another source of momentum. As a rising share of China's exports consists of higher-value advanced manufactured products, new Eurasian transport corridors have a stronger cargo base on which to develop, Jian Junbo, director of the Center for China-Europe Relations at Fudan University's Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times.
The Arctic's naturally low temperatures can also be suitable for the transport of certain high-value goods, including photovoltaic products, energy-storage equipment and precision electromechanical products, helping reduce some temperature-related transport risks.
According to the CNSS report, Sea Legend has said the route targets cargo including lithium batteries, photovoltaic products, new-energy vehicle components and cross-border e-commerce goods - time-sensitive, higher-value products for which delivery times and inventory turnover can carry considerably greater economic weight than for low-value, time-insensitive bulk cargo.
The appeal of the Arctic route also lies in its shorter transit time, Jian said. A shorter voyage can reduce overall logistics costs, improve cargo turnover, shorten delivery cycles and allow companies to organize production and supply chains more efficiently.
Industry calculations cited by CNSS estimate that the route can shorten the sailing distance on some Northeast Asia-Northern Europe services by about 30 percent to 40 percent compared with conventional maritime routes via the Suez Canal or the Cape of Good Hope.
Sea Legend tested the viability of faster Arctic shipping with a single voyage last year. Its vessel the Istanbul Bridge departed Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in September 2025 and reached Felixstowe in about 20 days, despite reducing speed due to severe weather in the Norwegian Sea. The vessel carried mainly new-energy vehicles, lithium batteries and photovoltaic products, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
The expansion goes beyond Sea Legend. China's first batch of Arctic sailings for 2026 involves six carriers, including NewNew Shipping, Ningbo Hongkun Shipping, Dalian Trawind Shipping, Tianjin Yueqian Shipping and Shanghai Dahua Shipping, deploying container ships, dry-bulk carriers and multipurpose vessels during the summer navigation window, according to the China Shipowners' Association.
Despite the progress, the larger-scale development of Arctic shipping still faces constraints, including a seasonal navigation window, relatively limited container capacity and less-developed support infrastructure. But experts said its broader value lies not in matching the scale of traditional routes, but in adding another option to an increasingly complex global logistics network.
Tech Times highlighted that the key difference in 2026 is Sea Legend's plan for eight consecutive weekly departures, which could help build the operational experience and booking confidence that a single voyage cannot provide.
。这次旅程虽很短暂，但是深入到了大兴安岭地区，很冷，很值得。 a、加格达奇是大兴安岭地区最大的城市，大兴安岭地区行政公署是一个类似地级市的行政单位，属于黑龙江省管理，但是其中加格达奇和另外一个松岭区在内蒙古境内，这两个地方是属于黑龙江的飞地。作者供图 b、加格达奇这城市名一听肯定有来头，是鄂伦春语里“有樟子松的地方”的意思，紧挨着呼伦贝尔市的鄂伦春自治旗，基本上想体验鄂伦春人的民俗就是先到加格达奇，再开车到隔壁的鄂伦春旗。 c、喜欢历史的朋友肯定知道南北朝的北魏是拓跋鲜卑族开创，而鲜卑人的起源就在鄂伦春旗的嘎仙洞，这里是鲜卑人的祖庭，龙兴之地，曾经是北方中原的霸主上百年。今天的鄂伦春族和历史上鲜卑人有非常紧密的连接，虽不能说就是今天的鲜卑人，但生活的区域、习俗、宗教信仰都是一样的，鄂伦春人很可能是鲜卑人的一个分支延续至今。

二 | d、鹿是鄂伦春人的图腾，他们平时会戴鹿角帽子，我这次参加了一个和鄂伦春政府合作的商业综艺节目的录制，基本上全程都是鄂伦春元素的展示，他们的民歌、舞蹈、射箭和传统服饰等等，在森林河水旁，听他们唱着传统的民歌，对这个目前只有9000多人的民族有了点了解。 e、真人体验性的综艺节目我知道是如何制作的了，基本上先要在很多场景里拍摄素材。

三 | 比如这次，找了很多商业界的代表来到鄂伦春，和当地文旅部门一起给当地文旅和农产品出点子，参加综艺的人已经在这里待了半个月，记录下所有的素材，后期制作至少两个月，一个季度播一季，下一季再换一个地方合作，比如云南、西藏某地文旅部门。过程中有常驻嘉宾，这个要求是最高的，因为需要全程参与，比如这次要两周多，就时间配合这一点就很难做到，中间会有一些重要嘉宾来客串下，比如待个1～2天。综艺如何赚钱？（1）靠合作的地方政府给钱，比如鄂伦春需要扩大影响力，增加文旅流量。他们需要媒体平台，需要创新的内容。虽然综艺已经不新鲜了，但是信息是有代际的，不是平的。（2）这次综艺节目的制作方会通过芒果和湖南卫视播出。实际上综艺制作方是工厂，生产的节目是产品，卖给电视台和网络平台播出，通过平台方和自己的广告招商拿到收入的分成或者一次性打包卖给平台方。今天的综艺太多太多了，美食的、户外生存的、厨艺的、旅行的、亲子的、商业文旅的等等，基本上就是类似流水线的生产一样，和电视剧、电影一样被一批一批地制造出来。 f、深秋的大兴安岭从飞机要降落加格达奇机场开始，满眼的金黄色，飘着一层薄雪。从色彩来说，非常美，只是很冷，冷到我在户外坐着的时候需要贴好几个暖宝宝，特别是起风的时候，会深刻体会到这就是东北。格外佩服冬天在户外狩猎的鄂伦春人，他们千百年来生活在森林里度过漫长的冬季，鲜卑人能够征服中原，能征善战，生命力顽强一定是有原因的。 g、周五晚我登上绿皮火车从加格达奇到齐齐哈尔，穿越茫茫山林，400多公里用了6个半小时。

四 | 今天我看到短视频说加格达奇火车站之后就要拆除重新盖，在这个森林小城的车站里候车居然成为了历史的绝唱。 h、这个小城和中国大多数县城差异不大，商业业态都有，除了一些不会辐射到这里的连锁品牌之外，餐厅里是东北风格，菜量大一定的，餐厅阿姨让我就点一个菜，这当然不行，还是要多尝两样。作者供图足疗店里的老板非常的悠闲，有客人就不急不慢地伺候着，没客人就看短视频看剧。最大的区别就是他们呼吸的空气中负氧离子爆表，每天都被洗肺，想必这里患呼吸道疾病的人应该很少。 i、这里有火车到漠河、齐齐哈尔、哈尔滨，绿皮火车居多，还没有高铁，估计也不会建高铁。作者供图这里有一个机场，航班不多，直飞的航线只有哈尔滨、大连和海拉尔，到北京和上海是经停的航线，虽然航线少，航班少，但至少和大城市连接起来了。 j、六个半小时的绿皮火车从加格达奇到齐齐哈尔，开车只要四个多小时。齐齐哈尔是达斡尔语“天然的牧场”的意思，所以这里一定有达斡尔族，这里能出一个飞鹤品牌也是必然的。达斡尔族人也不多，但还有十几万人，在齐齐哈尔就有达斡尔族区。 k、齐齐哈尔是黑龙江第二大城市，我感觉像一个大号的县城，可能北方的城市都差不多吧。曾经的重工业基地，曾经的黑龙江省会，出过很多名人，梁龙、毛不易和最近被禁言的张雪峰，还有上太空的航天员等等，是个人杰地灵和历史悠久的城市。每个城市应该都有齐齐哈尔烤肉吧，但估计大多数人不知道齐齐哈尔在哪。