In October 2015, Chinese vessel Yong Sheng finished a record-setting round trip from Europe to north China by sailing through the Arctic waters of the Northeast Passage and docking at Tianjin Port.
The cargo ship operated by China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO), the country's top shipping line, is the first Chinese merchant ship to sail from Europe to China via the Northeast Passage, an icy path north of Russia and Scandinavia, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Many experts expect the Arctic passage to become the next "golden waterway" for trade between China and Europe, according to a seminar held last week in the northeast China port city of Dalian, the report said.
The seminar focused on the possibility of normalising the Yong Sheng's Arctic shipping route.
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"The company is considering increasing the number of ships sailing via the new path," said Cai Meijiang, general manager of the safety and technical supervision department of COSCO.
The 19,000-tonne vessel first started its journey from Dalian to Rotterdam on August 8, 2013, sailing through the Northeast Passage and shortening the traditional shipping time by nine days.