MOSCOW: Russia is shipping a rare naphtha cargo via the North Sea Route (NSR) as Moscow seeks to increase supplies using the route to major trade partner China, cutting its way through European waters, traders said and Refinitiv data showed.

Vessel SCF Irtysh with 37,000 tonnes of naphtha onboard was loaded at Ust-Luga port on Aug. 5 for delivery to China. It is the first such loading since at least the late 2000s, according to two traders.

The supplier of the cargo was Gazprom Neft, the traders said. Gazprom Neft did not respond to a request for comment. The NSR is an Arctic route connecting Russian ports with China.

Oil supplies via NSR to China make sense financially, when the route opens during the summer, as it is 7-10 days shorter than via the Suez channel, but shippers have to use ice-class ships and ice breakers, which adds costs to the journey.