Ships Poised to Make First Arctic Ocean Crossing

In late August 2009, ice clogged some but not all of the Northwest Passage, and snow had retreated from most of the islands in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite caught this rare cloud-free view of the archipelago on August 27, 2009. Credit: NASA

Two German ships are set to make the first true passage of the Northeast Passage -- a long-sought shortcut through the Arctic Ocean along the coasts of Russia and Europe -- thanks to the sea ice melt spurred by global warming.

The route is a shorter and cheaper alternative to ship from Asia to Europe than the Suez Canal.

Sheets of pack ice, glaciers and floating icebergs still make the trip a potentially trecherous one, but shipping companies are hoping that the warming climate might make the passage a more reliable route in the summer months.

Arctic sea ice has been melting at rapid rates in the last decade. The summer minimum ice area in the Arctic has been far below the 1979-2000 average in recent years. While the ice minimum this year is not expected to surpass the 2007 record low, it is still in keeping with the significant melting trend.

This major melting has also opened up the Northwest Passage -- another fabled route across the Arctic -- though this path has been less reliably clear than the Northeast Passage.

The meltdown is not such a boon to the wildlife and indigineous cultures of the Arctic, which are facing drastic changes as their habitats morph under climate change.

This New York Times article discusses some of the technical and bureaucratic challenges faced by ships passing through the Arctic.