On October 7, the Dutch flag heavy transport vessel BigLift Barentsz arrived in Rotterdam from China, after sailing through the Northern Sea Route. The vessel is designed and built for polar waters.
BigLift Barentsz carried parts of the new 5,000 t crane for Allseas’ Pioneering Spirit. The parts had been loaded at the Huisman terminal at Zhangzhou, China, and were discharged onto barges by floating cranes.
The cargo will be stored until Pioneering Spirit returns to Rotterdam. Currently, BigLift Barentzs is heading to Flushing for its next assignment.
When open, the Northern Sea Route, reduces significantly the distance between China and Europe, in comparison to sailing round Asia and through the Suez Canal.
Recently, the route made the highlights as ‘Venta Maersk’ became the first container ship to ever sail through it.
Namely, on Friday, 28 September 2018, Venta Maersk called the port of Saint Petersburg, Russia, after successfully completing a trial passage of the Northern Sea Route.
Venta Maersk started her voyage on 22 August 2018 in the port of Vladivostok, Russia. The ship stopped in Vostochny Stevedoring Company and Busan, before passing through Bering Strait on 6 September 2018 on her way to Bremerhaven.
