A Chinese container ship has changed course toward Europe via the Arctic after attacks by Iran-backed Houthis on vessels in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea.

The ship “Dubai Tower” left the port of Ningbo in eastern China on Saturday evening for the north. It is expected to pass through the Bering Strait, then switch direction to the west, heading to Europe along the cold, frozen waters of northern Russia’s coastline.

The ship is expected to reach the UK on September 7 (in three weeks), and then, later that same week, stop in Hamburg, Germany, and Gdynia, in Poland.

Although the North Sea route from China to Europe is far faster than the Red Sea route (Bab el-Mandeb–Suez Canal), using this route is only possible for part of the year, when ships can cross it without help from icebreakers.