Eve Energy has begun shipping lithium batteries from China to Europe via the Northern Sea Route, which travels through the Arctic, and which it said could cut maritime transit times by almost 50%.
The batteries left Ningbo-Zhoushan Port on 15 August aboard the container ship Dubai Tower. The vessel is travelling north through the Bering Strait and west along Russia’s Arctic coast before calling at European ports including Felixstowe, Rotterdam, Hamburg and Gdynia.
Arctic trial voyages began in 2025
The China-Europe Arctic Express, operated by Chinese shipping company Sea Legend, began regular weekly sailings for the summer navigation season in August. Its first trial voyage in 2025 reached Europe in approximately 20 days, compared with around 40 days for conventional routes through the Suez Canal or around the Cape of Good Hope.
Eve said its cargo was manufactured at its plants in Huizhou, Guangdong province, and Jingmen, Hubei province. Following arrival in northern Europe, the batteries will be distributed to markets including Germany and Hungary.
The company has an office in Munich and is building a €1 billion ($1.17 billion), 28GWh battery cell plant in Debrecen, Hungary. The plant is intended to manufacture 46-series cylindrical cells for European electric vehicles.
Eve did not disclose the quantity, chemistry or format of the cells carried on the Dubai Tower, or identify the customers receiving them.
The manufacturer said temperatures of between –3°C and 10°C along the Arctic route during the summer navigation window could help protect temperature-sensitive battery cargo. It also claimed the shorter voyage could reduce carbon emissions per shipment by around 50%, although it did not provide calculations supporting the figure.
The Arctic service gives Eve an alternative to routes affected by disruption around the Red Sea and other maritime chokepoints. However, Northern Sea Route operations remain seasonal and have attracted environmental concerns over black-carbon emissions, oil spills and shipping activity in the fragile Arctic ecosystem.
Photo: a large ship traversing the Arctic (for illustrative purposes only, the ship pictured is not the Dubai Tower)
Credit: Shutterstock
