A weekly Ningbo-to-Felixstowe service will cut sailing time roughly in half, part of a wider shift toward the Northern Sea Route as Houthi attacks keep threatening Bab al-Mandeb shipping.

Chinese container line Sea Legend will this week launch the first regular container shipping service through the Arctic, branding it the "Ice Silk Road," the Financial Times reported.

The weekly service will run between Ningbo on China's east coast and Felixstowe in the UK via the Northern Route, skirting the north Russian coast and cutting the usual 40-day sailing time by about half, depending on Arctic Circle conditions. It follows a record 23 transits through the Northern Sea Route last summer, up from 15 in 2024, as melting polar ice widens the seasonal window in which ships can pass without icebreaker support.

Shipping companies are increasingly weighing the Arctic route as a way to avoid maritime chokepoints, particularly the Bab al-Mandeb strait into the Red Sea, where Iranian-backed Houthi militants renewed threats last month. The group said on July 23 it had attacked two Saudi Arabian tankers in the Red Sea, briefly sending oil prices back above $100 a barrel.

"There's been a definite increase in traffic through the Arctic and Northern Sea Route," said Rahul Khanna, global head of marine risk consulting at insurer Allianz. Vessel owners increasingly see the route as a way "to save a lot of time and cost" while also taking "out all the geopolitical chokepoints and conflict zones," he said.

Interest is also showing up in shipbuilding: 167 ice-class vessels were built last year, the highest level in more than a decade, with a further 164 due this year, according to maritime data company Veson Nautical. Many major European lines, including Maersk, have nonetheless pledged not to use the route over concerns for the Arctic ecosystem and relations with Russia, which controls permitting for the Northern Sea Route through its state company Rosatom.

The route still carries real risk: Allianz has recorded more than 500 shipping incidents in the Arctic Circle over the past decade, with machinery damage or failure responsible for almost half. "If we have a casualty in the Arctic, we have limited salvage, assistance, firefighting or rescue," Khanna said.