North Sea Route (NSR) transits between 2024 and 2025 are showing fair to strong growth for most sea freight categories, although the actual voyage numbers remain low, the latest data by analytics firm Intermodal shows.
The strongest performance in vessel traffic through the Arctic was recorded in the bulk carrier sector where a year-on-year (y-o-y) increase was recorded of 15 to 23 vessels, an increase of 53.3%.
In container freight 15 box ships used the NSR in 2025 compared with 11 in 2024, an increase of 36.4%.
In the liquid natural gas sector, five vessels transited through the Arctic compared with four in 2024.
Tanker traffic was slightly down, from 36 to 34 carriers, and general cargo stayed flat at 12 vessels y-o-y.
In the ‘other’ category, vessel traffic decreased by 26.3%, from 19 in 2024 to 14 last year.
Seen against the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s ambitions to incorporate Greenland into the US, the data seems to support a general trend of maritime growth for the NSR, Intermodal points out.
Although rare earth minerals in the Arctic country have been touted as a primary motivator for American interests in Greenland, Hellenic Shipping News writes that “the extraction of these resources remains a longer-term prospect as substantial challenges persist, including limited infrastructure, harsh climactic conditions, and stringent environmental regulations”.
As for maritime trade, Greenland’s geostrategic location in relation to an NSR traffic is clear, hence the US interest.
The publication quotes Intermodal senior analyst, Nikos Tagoulis, saying: “Data from the Norwegian Centre for High North Logistics, a research institution specializing in Arctic transportation, shows that Arctic seaborne trade has grown steadily, underscoring their rising importance despite smaller volumes compared with more traditional routes and seasonal limitations.”
Tagoulis adds that increase traffic through the NSR has a distinct Russia-China aspect.
Compared with a decade earlier, transits representing trade between the two countries have increased fivefold.
From 2015 onwards, the NSR has seen an increase of about 100 vessels over a period of 4.5 months, but it’s gross tonnage that makes a stronger statement about NSR volume growth in recent times.
Between 2024 and 2025, Arctic transits rose from 97 to 107, representing a deadweight tonnage (dwt) increase of 3.2% to 6.2 million dwt.
Russian crude accounted for the largest share of transits, namely 34 last year, and bulk carriers, mostly Panamax and Capesize vessels, shipped most of the volume, a 28% increase in coal y-o-y sent to China.
Tagoulis emphasised that although NSR transits remained relatively small in number, voyages were on the increase because it was up to 40% shorter than conventional Europe-Asia sailings.
As ice melt increases, NSR transit growth is expected to grow at pace, he says.
