The South Korean containership Panstar Acro has completed the Northern Sea Route (NSR) in both directions without resorting to icebreakers.
The news comes from the Centre for High North Logistics, which has published an interesting analysis of the journey.
The ship transported 737 TEUs of full containers and 202 TEU of empty containers on its westbound voyage, whilst on its eastbound one it carried 1,743 TEUs, all of which were empty.
After leaving the NSR waters at Cape Želanija on 6th September 2026 at 06:15 UTC, the Panstar Acro continued along the Norwegian coast towards the United Kingdom. During this leg of the voyage following the Arctic transit, the vessel covered 2,189 nautical miles in approximately 5 days and 14 hours, at an average speed of 16.4 knots.
The container ship arrived at its first European port of call, Felixstowe, on 11th September 2026 at 20:00 UTC, more or less in line with its previously estimated arrival window.
The 7,577 nautical mile westbound voyage from Busan to Felixstowe was completed in approximately 20 days and 7 hours. According to final figures from the South Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the outbound cargo consisted of 737 TEU of full containers destined for export and 202 TEU of empty containers, i.e. 939 TEUs.
The operation, which terminated on 10th October with the vessel’s return to Busa, marks the completion of the South Korean pilot project for container transport along the Arctic route.
Considering that the load factor was 27% on the outward journey (headhaul) and 0 % on the return journey (backhaul) in terms of the goods loaded, the economic viability of the operation appears far from convincing.
Translation by Giles Foster
