Having already established the viability of such a sailing route for a vessel of its size and speed as a prelude to becoming the first vessel operating a new cargo shipping route expected to not only significantly slash shipping durations between Europe and Asia but also do so with meaningfully large container shipment quantities. Panamax vessels are the baseline model size of all modern-day international container shipping since 1980, with newer vessels over the past few decades only growing ever-larger with greater cargo capacity. Istanbul Bridge’s latest transit of the Northern Sea Route saw it hit a top speed of 18.4 knots even with cautious coastline-hugging sailing. This is usually the most profitable period in the container shipping industry, with maximum demand for cargo capacity flowing out from China as the world’s factory to Europe and North America. In combination, this means better container throughput for shippers and traders in Europe and China, just as China is seeing increased exports to Europe again.