The shipping company will transport containers between Ningbo in China and Felixstowe in the UK. The route through the Arctic will cut the usual 40-day journey by about half.
The Arctic Ocean is attractive to shipowners who want to avoid bottlenecks such as the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea, where the Houthi movement has once again begun to threaten shipping.
Danish Mærsk was the first to sail through the Arctic in 2018, but like several other European shipping companies, it has promised not to use the route for environmental reasons.
Last summer, 23 trips were made through the Arctic, compared with 15 in 2024.
