All eight China-Europe Arctic Express sailings scheduled for 2026 were underway by Sept 27 after two clean-energy vessels departed Ningbo-Zhoushan Port for major European ports.

The departures marked the completion of the route's first season of regular weekly operations. The service takes about 20 days to reach Europe, roughly half the transit time of traditional routes.

The first sailing of this year's regular service left Ningbo-Zhoushan Port on Aug 15. The final departure, originally planned for early October, was brought forward to late September because forecasts showed Arctic sea ice expanding in October.

Three vessels deployed on the route this year are powered by liquefied natural gas, or LNG. According to the operator, each voyage can cut carbon emissions by about 30 percent, eliminate sulfur oxide emissions, and reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 85 percent.

The eight sailings called at Chinese ports including Ningbo-Zhoushan, Qingdao, Taicang, Shanghai, and Nansha. Preliminary figures show they carried more than 14,000 twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, of export cargo, with Zhejiang accounting for 59 percent, or more than 8,300 TEUs.

The total was equivalent to about 0.3 percent of the laden containers Zhejiang exported to Europe via the Suez Canal and the Cape of Good Hope in 2025. On a daily basis, the volume was equivalent to about 2.2 percent.