Chinese container vessel sails to Europe via Arctic, cutting shipment times in half

A Chinese container vessel has set sail for Europe through the Arctic, part of new weekly service on a route that cuts shipment times in half but which environmental groups warn could speed up the melting of polar ice.

The "Dubai Tower" left the eastern port city of Ningbo on Saturday evening heading north, where it will pass through the Bering Strait, then turn west through the frigid waters along Russia's northern coast.

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It is expected to reach Felixstowe in the UK on September 7, followed by stops in Hamburg, Germany and Gdynia, Poland later that week, according to a timetable published by Sea Legend.

The Northern Sea Route from China to Europe is significantly faster than that through the Suez Canal and allows vessels to avoid the Red Sea.