BRUSSELS, September 18. /TASS/. The Chinese port of Ningbo is preparing to launch a cargo ship that will test a new shipping route via the Northern Sea Route (NSR), Politico wrote.

The vessel's departure is scheduled for September 20. Although Chinese companies have previously conducted trial shipments via the NSR, the upcoming route will be more challenging. "They did point-to-point trips, like from one Chinese port to Hamburg or to St. Petersburg," Malte Humpert, senior fellow and founder of the Arctic Institute, a Washington-based think tank that studies Arctic security, told Politico. "This voyage is different. They're trying four ports in China, then through the Arctic, then the UK, Rotterdam, Hamburg and Gdansk. That actually resembles a normal shipping route," he said.

Ten years ago, everyone thought that before 2040 or 2050, container shipping in the Arctic would hardly be possible, the expert noted. "And here we are in 2025, and the Chinese are doing it. Do they make money? It doesn't really matter <...> it's about gaining the knowledge, understanding how to do it. That's what the Chinese are doing - they're gaining the experience and training the shipping crews," he said.

The development of the Northern Sea Route became possible due to climate change as changes occur more rapidly in the Arctic region than in other parts of the planet, Humpert said. However, he believes that most global trade will continue to flow through the traditional route via the Suez Canal.

"If you play this 30 or 40 years into the future, and the ice melts another 30, 40, 50%, suddenly you have six months of no ice [in the waters of the NSR], and the Arctic becomes a very interesting equation. <...> The Arctic is not going to replace the Suez Canal tomorrow. That's not what's happening. The Suez Canal, the Panama Canal, they will remain there. But the Arctic will become supplemental," the expert concluded.

China testing new shipping route via Northern Sea Route -- Politico