Shipping

NewNew Shipping and Rosatom advance Arctic container fleet with five Arc7 ice-class vessels

China's NewNew Shipping Line and Russia's Rosatom are developing five Arc7 ice-class container ships designed to enable year-round commercial shipping on the Northern Sea Route. The 255-meter vessels would carry more than 4,800 TEU and be capable of independently breaking through first-year ice up to 1.7 meters thick. The companies established a joint venture, Northern Sea Route Shipping Line, in late 2024, with the first ship originally targeted for service no later than 2027, though the timetable remains uncertain.