Venta Maersk, the first container ship that travelled through the Northern Sea Route, docked at Bremerhaven on September 22. The vessel started its voyage on August 23 from Vladivostok and was using ultra low sulphur fuel during the voyage. Venta Maersk left Bremerhaven on September 23, heading to its final destination: St. Petersburg.
The ship is carrying frozen fish and travelled through the Northern Sea Route until the Bering Strait between Russia and Alaska, before travelling along the Russian north coast ending up to St. Petersburg.
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On September 11, Atomflot’s nuclear icebreaker “50 Years of Victory” escorted the container vessel. The nuclear icebreaker provided a safe passage for Venta Maersk from the East Siberian Sea to the Laptev Sea.
Maersk noted that this is a one-off trial aiming to discover a new route for container ships and to gather scientific data.
In particular, Maersk said that the aim of this trial passage via the NSR is to ‘explore an unknown route for container shipping and to collect scientific data.’
There is more traffic in this route lately as during summer the ice decreases. In fact, oil and gas cargoes are making the journey, as choosing the Northern Sea Route, journey times between Asia and Europe can be reduced by up to two weeks.
