How China is driving a surge in shipping traffic along Arctic sea routes
Chinese companies are showing growing interest in shipping goods to the West via the Northern Sea Route – an icy Arctic passage that opens up each summer – according to Rosatom, the Russian company that operates infrastructure along the route.
The firm anticipates a significant uptick in voyages by Chinese companies along the NSR during the coming summer-autumn shipping season, and is adding more nuclear-powered icebreakers to its fleet to handle the growing traffic flow.
Cargo traffic on the NSR – the shortest shipping link between the Asia-Pacific region and western Eurasia – is steadily increasing, Rosatom told the Post via email. In 2024, a record 92 transit voyages were completed, carrying more than 3 million tonnes of cargo.
'In 2025, companies from China plan to make at least one and a half times more trips along the NSR than last year,' Rosatom said, though it did not provide specific numbers for Chinese companies' voyages.
Cargo data showed that Russia's energy exports to China currently dominate transit shipping along the NSR, with 95 per cent of all transit shipments moving from Russia to China in 2024, according to the Centre for High North Logistics, an Arctic transport institute affiliated with Norway's Nord University.
Crude oil remained the main cargo, accounting for 1.89 million tonnes of goods shipped along the route last year. Bulk commodities such as iron ore, coal and fertiliser made up the second-largest cargo source, with 877,000 tonnes.
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