China’s Sea Legend Shipping is preparing to turn the Northern Sea Route into a seasonal liner product， scheduling eight weekly container sailings between China and northern Europe from mid-August through late October.

It would be the first regular weekly box service on the Russian-controlled Arctic corridor， moving beyond the demonstration voyages seen to date.

The China-Europe Arctic Express will use seven small and mid-sized ships ranging from 1，528 teu to 4，890 teu. The opening voyage is assigned to the 1，740 teu Dubai Tower， while the fleet also includes Riyadh Mukaab， Athens Odeon， Istanbul Bridge and three Tiger-branded vessels. Dubai Tower is due to make a second passage at the end of the programme.

Cargo will be gathered from Dalian， Qingdao， Shanghai， Taicang， Fuzhou and Nansha before consolidation at Ningbo-Zhoushan. Felixstowe will serve as the principal European gateway， with onward calls or connections to Rotterdam， Wilhelmshaven and Gdynia， as well as markets across northern and eastern Europe.

Sea Legend is marketing a transit of about 20 to 22 days to northern Europe， compared with 30 to 40 days via Suez and as much as 50 days around the Cape of Good Hope. The line is targeting high-value and time-sensitive cargoes， including electric vehicles， batteries， photovoltaic equipment， e-commerce shipments， reefers and oversized freight.

The scheduled operation follows last year’s single sailing by the 4，890 teu Istanbul Bridge. The ship departed Ningbo on September 23 and reached Felixstowe 21 days later before continuing to Hamburg， Gdansk and Rotterdam. Sea Legend had subsequently floated plans for as many as 16 Arctic voyages in 2026， meaning the eight fixed sailings now published represent a more measured expansion.

The NSR remains heavily seasonal， while operators face variable ice conditions， higher insurance costs， limited emergency infrastructure and potential dependence on Russian icebreaker support.