China opens Arctic ‘Ice Silk Road’ as Strait of Hormuz crisis deepens

China has turned to a new shipping route through the Arctic in the midst of growing weaponization of maritime chokepoints.

As reported by The Financial Times, Beijing is set to launch a regular container shipping service through the Arctic as a way to bypass the world’s maritime chokepoints.

A Chinese container shipping company named Sea Legend will launch its first regular shipping service through the Arctic, aiming to shorten the journey between Asia and Europe and access the Turkish and North African markets.

The shipping service will connect Ningbo, China to Felixstowe, UK through the Northern Sea route across Russia’s Arctic coast. Dubbed the “Ice Silk Road”, the route evokes historical trading pathways that once linked China and Europe.

The primary benefit of this shipping route is to cut the usual 40-day sailing time between the two ports by half. Moreover, climate change-induced melting of ice automatically creates a viable path for the ships without needing icebreaker capabilities. The Arctic sea ice shrank by 5.8 percent between 2024 and 2025 during the peak winter period.

In today’s highly contested geopolitical environment, the Arctic route has emerged as a key route driven by the Strait of Hormuz and Bab-al-Mandab strait crises.

Rahul Khanna, global head of marine risk consulting at the insurer Allianz, said “There’s been a definite increase in traffic through the Arctic and Northern Sea Route. Vessels and shipowners now see it as more of an opportunity, first to save a lot of time and cost but also to take out all the geopolitical chokepoints and conflict zones.”

The northern Sea Route is divided into 28 sections with varying guidelines. The permit to sail through the route is often issued by the Rosatom-controlled Northern Sea Route administration.

Following Maersk’s trial in 2018, many European shipping lines avoided the route on the grounds of worsening relations with Russia and the fears over causing ecological harm to the Arctic ecosystem.

On the whole, the Arctic ocean is turning into a highly contested arena between the US, Russia and China due to melting polar ice caps. Russia sees Arctic territory as an economic lifeline. China classifies itself as a near-Arctic state and advocates for a “Polar Silk Road.” The United opposed the monopoly of Sino-Russian states and vouched for freedom of navigation.