FINANCIAL TIMES: A Chinese cargo ship is attempting the country’s first ever commercial transit of the Northeast Passage above Russia, as a changing climate opens a short-cut that promises to reduce shipping times between China and Europe.
The Yong Sheng, a 19,000-tonne vessel operated by state-owned Cosco Group, set sail on August 8 from Dalian, a port in northeastern China, bound for Rotterdam. According to an announcement on Cosco’s website, the journey via the Bering Strait could shave as much as 15 days off the traditional route through the Suez Canal and Mediterranean Sea.
Also known as the Northern Sea Route, the Northeast Passage is Europe’s answer to the fabled Northwest Passage that threads its way across northern Canada and then around Alaska. Sir Francis Drake and Captain James Cook were among the many adventurers and entrepreneurs who coveted the routes as potential short-cuts to lucrative trading markets in East Asia… (more)
