The Russian government, via state-owned transport company Rosatom, has entered into an agreement with China's Hainan Yangpu Newnew Shipping to form a new joint venture that will operate container vessels year-round on the Northern Sea Route (NSR).
The agreement also calls for the construction of five ice-capable containerships capable of operations in the Arctic, particularly along the 13,000-kilometre-long NSR.
The joint venture company will include the ports of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk in its calls due to their potential for handling greater cargo volumes.
The partners aim to ship 200 million tonnes of cargo through the NSR by 2031. The longer-term goal is to have 1.8 billion tonnes pass through the route by 2035.
The joint venture is scheduled to be finalised this August with operational sailings to commence shortly afterwards.
The establishment of the joint venture is in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's calls for greater shipping traffic passing through the NSR.