Arctic Express No. 1: China – Arkhangelsk – Moscow by sea and rail in 25 days

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By Marek Grzybowski

The Chinese company NewNew Shipping Line launched at the beginning of July this year. a new trade route called Arctic Express No. 1, which runs through the Northern Sea Route (NSR), the press service of the governor and government of the Arkhangelsk Oblast reported. The route is 1,200 km long by rail and 6,600 nautical miles by sea, and takes 20-25 days to complete, which will significantly shorten delivery times compared to traditional routes, the operator informs. Over 20,000 TEUs are planned to be transported through this multimodal corridor in 2024.
The new route aims to accelerate and optimize cargo transportation between Russia and China. Arctic Express No. 1 will connect China’s main ports, Shanghai and Ningbo, with Arkhangelsk via the Northern Sea Route (NSR). After arriving in Arkhangelsk, the cargo will be delivered by rail to Moscow and St. Petersburg, Interfax reports in a press release.
The launch ceremony of the new route took place at the Bely Rast terminal and logistics center in the Moscow Oblast. Bely Rast is a new container terminal for receiving goods from China, belonging to the Lobnensky customs facility of the Moscow Regional Customs Office.

 

Moscow closer to China
Bely Rast was established as part of the program for the development of the national railway system, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation. The terminal with a total area of ​​179 hectares is located 30 km from Moscow and is directly adjacent to the Great Ring Road of the Moscow Railway and the federal highway A107 (Small Moscow Ring Road) leading to the Dmitrovskoye Highway, informs the terminal’s management. The Bely Rast terminal is designed to handle full-size container trains. The junction is equipped with a checkpoint, reports SBCargo.ru.
– First of all, Arctic Express No. 1 provides virtually unlimited opportunities to increase trade turnover between Russia and China – says the spokesman for the governor of the Arkhangelsk region, Alexander Cybulski. – Today, all our logistics connections with China are based primarily on the use of railways, which will always have limitations in increasing trade – he adds.
– The route we are opening today is the shortest route from Europe to Asia, so we are essentially creating new logistics connections between our countries – emphasizes Cybulski. The rail-sea connection will function as an intermodal connection. It will be used mainly for transporting containers.
– The launch of Arctic Express No. 1 opens a new chapter in cooperation between China and Russia in the Arctic, notes China’s ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui, who participated in the opening ceremony of the connection. The first cruise, after a 10-year break, from Arkhangelsk to China took place in 2023, when a ship carrying over 300 containers sailed along the North Sea route. Ten to twelve cruises are planned for the 2024 summer and fall navigation season.

Trade between China and Russia – record growth
Trade between China and Russia reached a record high in 2023, while trade with the United States fell for the first time in four years as a result of geopolitical tensions, the Chinese government reported at the beginning of this year. Data from the PRC customs office show that trade between China and Russia has reached over USD 240 billion, exceeding the USD 200 billion target set by the governments of both countries under bilateral agreements in 2022.
This is a record trade turnover in the history of both countries, which have become closer politically and economically since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, emphasizes the commentator of Agence France-Presse. Despite China being criticized by some Western countries for its lack of response to Russia’s aggression, Beijing emphasizes that it remains neutral but is also actively developing economic cooperation with Russia.
According to China Customs trade data, trade with the Russian Federation increased by 26.3% in 2023 year-on-year. Meanwhile, trade between the US and China fell for the first time since 2019. Trade with the United States was estimated at USD 664 billion in 2023, a decrease of 11.6% compared to 2022. However, in terms of value it is still three times more than the value of trade between China and Russia.
Wang Lingjun, vice minister of the General Administration of Customs, said at a press conference that China’s trade will face a number of obstacles in 2024. – The complexity, severity and uncertainty of the external environment are increasing, so we must overcome difficulties and make greater efforts to further support the development of foreign trade, says Wang Lingjun, as reported by France-Presse. This assessment is based on data for 2023. This year, Chinese exports decreased by 4.6%, which is the first decline since 2016. Imports also decreased by 5.5%.
Therefore, activating the Northern Sea Route may logistically support trade exchange between both economies. In the first five months of 2024, trade between China and Russia increased by 3% year-on-year to almost $97 billion.

Insufficient infrastructure
“The infrastructure in our countries is insufficient to fully meet our growing logistics and transportation needs, so it is necessary to open new logistics channels to further expand Sino-Russian economic and trade cooperation,” Zhang says.
– China has always supported the peaceful development of the Arctic and the creation of Arctic shipping routes. Over the past decade, the leaders of China and Russia have continued to pay attention to the development of Arctic shipping routes, and the governments have established mechanisms to develop cooperation in the Arctic, emphasizes the Chinese ambassador to the Russian Federation.
Referring to Yangpu NewNew Shipping Line’s launch of the first scheduled container service between China and the Russian part of the Arctic Ocean in July last year, Zhang said that since then, there have been 14 sailings that have provided cargo transport in both directions. – Intermodal rail connections in maritime transport and cooperation between Russia and China in the field of shipbuilding will effectively promote bilateral trade, investments and technological innovations and will give new meaning to the development of the ‘Ice Silk Road’ – emphasizes the ambassador.

Chinese NewNew Star on the Baltic route
NewNew Star also serves the Baltic ports of Russia. In June 2024, Ust-Luga Container Terminal (ULCT), owned by the Russian logistics group Delo Group, handled the first call of the NewNew Star container ship belonging to the Hainan Yangpu NewNew Shipping Co. container line. The ship was loaded with over 400 FEU containers with wood goods for export: plywood, veneer, sawn timber. Discharge ports include Alexandria in Egypt and the Chinese ports of Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai and Nansha (Guangzhou).
The NewNew Star container ship serving Russian ports has a capacity of 3,534 TEU, as reported by GlobalPorts.com. When fully loaded, its draft exceeds the permissible draft for the water area of ​​the port of St. Petersburg. Therefore, loading took place in two stages: the main part of the containers was loaded at the First Container Terminal (FCT) in St. Petersburg. An additional 412 containers were loaded at the ULCT deepwater terminal in the port of Ust-Luga. Unlike the terminals in St. Petersburg, which are limited by depth, ULCT can handle large ships with a draft exceeding 12 meters.

Containers in the sea port of Ust Luga
Let us add that container transshipment in Russian Baltic ports in the first quarter of 2024 increased by 97% to 409,000. TEU. At the same time, container handling in St. Petersburg in the first quarter increased 10-fold to 155,000. TEU. Against the background of the growth of direct maritime services between St. Petersburg and the ports of Asia-Pacific countries, the market in the region shows demand for increased vessel capacity. In 2024, every fourth container ship calling at the ports of St. Petersburg and Ust-Luga will have a capacity of 3,000. TEU and more – announce terminal operators.
Ust-Luga Container Terminal is one of the most modern maritime cargo terminals in Russia and can handle all types of containers and all classes of hazardous cargo. The infrastructure and area of ​​the terminal allow for a quick increase in the capacity of the railway station, according to the terminal management. The Ust-Luga seaport is served by one of the largest and most modern railway stations. This is the Luzhskaya terminal on the Oktyabrskaya railway line. Thanks to this, the seaport has direct access to the railway network, bypassing the busy railway junction in St. Petersburg. This allows the port to optimize the logistics chain and shorten delivery times, which is undoubtedly used to create new logistics connections supporting the Northern Sea Route.

Source: NewNew Star, Rosatomflot, Ust Luga