News / Sea Legend Shipping returns to Arctic route with China-Europe NSR sailings

Dubai Tower Photo: @VesselFinder

Chinese operator Sea Legend Shipping is to repeat its opportunistic Ningbo-Felixstowe service through the Northern Sea Route (NSR).

This time, there will be eight sailings by Sea Legend’s China-Europe Arctic Express between August and October, starting withthe  1,732 teu Dubai Tower on 15 August.

Sea Legend’s vessel schedule shows the voyage will take 21 days, with Dubai Tower expected to arrive in Felixstowe on 6 September.

The sailings coincide with the 2026 navigational season for the NSR, which is accessible to shipping only during the Northern Hemisphere summer, when ice caps have melted sufficiently.

Cargo is expected to comprise finished goods from Chinese factories rushing out orders for Christmas, but Sea Legend is also targeting shipments of lithium batteries and asserts that the NSR’s cold environment will control the related thermal runway risks.

Sea Legend, incorporated in Singapore in February 2023, emerged early in 2024 when mainline operators left the Red Sea following Houthi rebel attacks on vessels, creating a vacuum. The company joined other opportunistic operators, such as Safetrans and OVP Shipping, in offering services connecting China to the Red Sea.

Subsequently, Sea Legend launched services linking China to the Black Sea and the Indian Subcontinent. Its website boasts more than 60 vessels in its fleet, mostly chartered from Chinese owners.

Last September, amid interest from China and South Korea in exploring the NSR as a shortcut to Europe, Sea Legend launched a one-off Ningbo-Felixstowe sailing, using the 4,890 teu Istanbul Bridge. All slots on the ship were fully booked.

Sea Legend claimed the route would see vessel emissions slashed by 50%, compared with the Cape of Good Hope route.

It is not clear who owns Sea Legend, its ultimate holding company is the British Virgin Islands-incorporated Worldwide Logistics Holding. Its 2024 financials showed Sea Legend booked revenue of $142m in 2024, more than twice as much as in 2023. The company reported a $9.3m net profit in 2024, turning around from a startup loss of $10.4m in 2023.