On 28 September container terminal JSC Petrolesport (PLP, a Global Ports Group company) started handling VENTA MAERSK that arrived in Saint Petersburg by the Northern Sea Route, says Ust-Luga Container Terminal.
On 26 August MAERSK operated vessel headed off Vostochnaya Stevedoring Company (VSC) terminal which is also part of the Global Ports Group. It took 31 days to travel from the Russian Far East to Saint Petersburg. The project has been the first ever passage by a container ship by the Northern Sea Route.
VENTA MAERSK delivered 660 containers to Saint Petersburg, including many reefer containers with Kamchatka fish products.
The Northern Sea Route is much shorter than the conventional ocean route via the Suez Canal. The distance from the Vostochny port to Saint Petersburg by the Northern Sea Route is about 14,000 km, whereas the ocean route via the Suez Canal is over 23,000 km.
VENTA MAERSK is a container ship of a new series specifically designed to operate in harsh climate conditions of the Northern and Baltic Seas. The vessels of this series are the biggest ice-class container ships worldwide designed to operate in winter environment at -25 Сº or lower.