China Uses Arctic Shipping Route to Avoid Strait of Hormuz via 'Ice Silk Road'

A Chinese shipping company called Sea Legend is reportedly opening an “Ice Silk Road” shipping lane through the Arctic to avoid the volatile Middle East and chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz. The move follows a record 23 transits through the Northern Sea Route last summer, up from 15 voyages in 2024,” FT noted. The “Polar Silk Road” concept did not originate with Sea Legend’s marketing department. BRI was originally billed as an effort to rebuild the fabled Silk Road trade route of antiquity. The Polar Silk Road flourished in the imaginations of Chinese planners after Chinese ships demonstrated the ability to navigate the largest polar sea routes.