The first ever Chinese cargo vessel departed from the massive Ningbo-Zhoushan port on September 22 bound for Felixstowe in the UK via Russia’s frozen Northern Route, in an experiment that could have a major impact on Sino-European trade.

Partly thanks to global warming, sailing around the top of the world has become easier and the expanding Arctic trading corridor reduces journeys times by nearly a third compared to the traditional Suez canal route, according to Chinese and Russian officials.

The 18-day voyage follows Russia’s northern coast, with icebreakers escorting the ship through frozen sections in case they are needed. Russia has invested heavily in nuclear-powered icebreakers and the reduced ice cover means that the route is open for longer each year.

As bne IntelliNews reported, as Climate Crisis accelerates faster than scientists predicted, the Paris Agreement 1.5C-2C upper limit for temperature increases has already been missed and the world is on track to see at least 2.7C-3.1C increases by 2050. At this level the Siberian permafrost melt acceleration means the northern sea summer ice cover will completely disappear in the coming decades allowing even great volumes of cargo to traverse the northern route.

At roughly 14,000km, the passage is significantly shorter than the nearly 21,000km journey via the Suez Canal. Researchers from China and Russia have spent recent years monitoring ice levels to assess the viability of a permanent east–west route across the Arctic.

Officials in Beijing and Moscow say the corridor could transform Eurasian trade.

The initiative, however, has raised concerns in Washington, which currently is the dominant naval power in the southern seas. US officials fear that the emerging northern route could shift control of global trade corridors away from traditional chokepoints, particularly through the South China sea that carries a third of global sea-borne cargo traffic and is controlled by US ally, Taiwan. The Suez Canal also handles another third of traffic, where the US and its allies maintain influence.

China is also building up analogous land-based transit routes, building out an extensive railway network to connect Europe and Asia as part of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

“Even though the trade route basically covers Eurasia, the US prefers to have global control over trade,” one observer noted.

The development appears to have influenced President Donald Trump’s recent comments about expanding US strategic control of Arctic and maritime routes. Washington has expressed an interest in annexing Greenland, adjacent to the new Arctic corridor, and has also voiced intentions to secure greater control over the Panama Canal, another east–west passage vital to global shipping, where China is heavily invested.