The Centre for High North Logistics’ (CHNL) figures show that for the 2025 navigation season, 103 ships transited the Northern Sea Route (NSR), up from 97 vessels last year.
The increase in traffic was led by bulk carriers and container ships, mostly carrying cargo between Russia and China. CHNL said the bulk carriers were likely to have loaded coal in Murmansk, with additional shipments from Ust-Luga and Vysotsk.
The centre said: “All eastbound voyages were destined for China. We estimate that these seven voyages transported just under 700,000 tonnes of cargo.”
Eastbound, three Capesizes and four Panamaxes carried Russian coal to China. Westbound dry bulk voyages originated mainly from China (11 voyages), South Korea (four voyages), and Russia (one voyage). CHNL analysed: “Most vessels lacked ice-class certification, suggesting one-off Arctic transits. However, five vessels completed two NSR voyages during the season. This indicates that the NSR is increasingly used for repositioning bulk carriers between regions. Importantly, this westbound group accounted for the largest increase in total deadweight among all transit vessel categories.”
Transits reach record high
Russia’s state atomic energy corporation, Rosatom, which is working with China’s Yangpu Newnew Shipping to operate Arctic routes, said last month that NSR container traffic reached a record high for this year’s season. Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev estimates that 400,000 tonnes of containerised cargoes passed through the NSR this season. CHNL stated that its own estimates for containerised cargo volumes is about 287,000 tonnes, including two voyages by Newnew’s general cargo ship Xin Xin Hai 1.
It said: “We do not know exactly which ships and voyages were included in this figure (400,000 tonnes). It’s possible that additional containerized cargo was transported on other general cargo vessels, for which we have no detailed information.”
The main share of transit cargo traffic consisted of tanker shipments, as in 2024, although there was a slight decline, to 34 transits in 2025, from 36 in 2024. There were fewer eastbound crude oil shipments from Murmansk compared to 2024, when there were 15 voyages. This year, only eight transit voyages originated from Murmansk. Some destinations remain unclear, with vessels anchoring in Aniva Bay near Korsakov, suggesting possible transshipment for export.
However, eastbound crude oil shipments from Baltic ports (Ust-Luga and Primorsk) increased to 10 voyages in 2025, compared to only three in 2024. Most voyages also included stops near Aniva Bay and Nakhodka, likely for transshipment. Overall crude oil volumes declined to 1.83 million tonnes in 2025, from 1.91 million tonnes in 2024. (PL)
