Chinese company NewNew Shipping Line will provide five ice class vessels for transportation along the Northern Sea Route, with the ships coursing between China and Russia, company representative Jing Ke told journalists on Friday.
"We will provide five vessels this year. All of them of ice class. Vessels with capacity from 1,200 TEU [Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit] to 2,500 TEU," he told journalists at a press conference dedicated to the opening of the regular shipment service between Russia and China.
The Northern Sea Route is the shortest maritime route between European Russia and the Far East, with a total length of 5,600 kilometers (3,480 miles). The whole route lies within Russia's territorial waters and in its exclusive economic zone.