Chinese shippers plan 6 to 8 vessel calls to port of Arkhangelsk along NSR monthly in 2024 - head of Pomorye

ST. PETERSBURG. Dec 12 (Interfax) - Chinese shippers plan to make six to eight vessel calls to the port of Arkhangelsk each month during the summer-autumn navigation period in 2024 along the Northern Sea Route (NSR), Pomorye head Alexander Tsybulsky said during a working meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Our Chinese partners have already agreed on six to eight ship calls monthly next year at our port after our test voyage. The prospects for this direction are obvious, as this is the initiative of shippers," Tsybulsky said during the bilateral meeting on Monday in Arkhangelsk.

As Tsybulsky told the Russian president, a direct trip along the NSR was completed in 2023 from Arkhangelsk to Shanghai, China, for the first time in 10 years. The ship carried 500 containers of lumber.

Tsybulsky also noted that the travel time from the seaport of Arkhangelsk to the seaport of Shanghai along the NSR is 20-22 days versus 30-32 days from St. Petersburg.