Northeast Passage

[Quantum Windbag]

I see an open route between Alaska and the Atlantic.

And it's certainly not the first time it's opened:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_passage

Look, Paddy...

That ice is a goner. There's just no chance that's going to turn around in time to stop that plunge.

You must think you are smart.

FYI, the Northwest Passage is a route along the norther border of Canada, not one that goes along the northern border of Russia.

 

[mamooth]

Ships using the Northeast Passage will stick close to the coast of Russia. Nobody will take a ship to the north of Severnaya Zemlya to take advantage of the lack of ice there. That would add more distance, and run the risk of getting trapped by major pack ice if the winds suddenly shifted. Instead, they'll convoy up behind an icebreaker and run through the remaining ice in the Vilkitsky Strait. A short stretch of 0.5 - 1.0 meter ice is no biggie for an icebreaker, and there's no risk of thick pack ice closing in.

 

[Crick]

I see an open route between Alaska and the Atlantic.

And it's certainly not the first time it's opened:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/[B]Northeast_passag[/B]e

Look, Paddy...

That ice is a goner. There's just no chance that's going to turn around in time to stop that plunge.

You must think you are smart.

FYI, the Northwest Passage is a route along the norther border of Canada, not one that goes along the northern border of Russia.

That's probably why all my references were to the NORTHEAST PASSAGE as were those of the post to which I responded. Hmm... the OP as well. I guess... YOU FAIL.

 

[Old Rocks]

I see an open route between Alaska and the Atlantic.

And it's certainly not the first time it's opened:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_passage

Look, Paddy...

That ice is a goner. There's just no chance that's going to turn around in time to stop that plunge.

You must think you are smart.

FYI, the Northwest Passage is a route along the norther border of Canada, not one that goes along the northern border of Russia.

Looks to me that you are the first to mention the Northwest Passage.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

I see an open route between Alaska and the Atlantic.

And it's certainly not the first time it's opened:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_passage

Look, Paddy...

That ice is a goner. There's just no chance that's going to turn around in time to stop that plunge.

You must think you are smart.

FYI, the Northwest Passage is a route along the norther border of Canada, not one that goes along the northern border of Russia.

That's probably why all my references were to the NORTHEAST PASSAGE as were those of the post to which I responded. Hmm... the OP as well. I guess... YOU FAIL.

The Northeast passage has existed for years. How the fuck do you think Russia managed to have a navy considering it has no warm water seaports?

 

[Quantum Windbag]

I see an open route between Alaska and the Atlantic.

And it's certainly not the first time it's opened:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_passage

Look, Paddy...

That ice is a goner. There's just no chance that's going to turn around in time to stop that plunge.

You must think you are smart.

FYI, the Northwest Passage is a route along the norther border of Canada, not one that goes along the northern border of Russia.

Looks to me that you are the first to mention the Northwest Passage.

It does at that, I misread something somewhere.

 

[westwall]

I see an open route between Alaska and the Atlantic.

And it's certainly not the first time it's opened:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_passage

Look, Paddy...

That ice is a goner. There's just no chance that's going to turn around in time to stop that plunge.

I don't know.....looks pretty average to me.

 

[Old Rocks]

Whether you use the curve or linear line, the result is that before the 21st century is done, there will be on ice at the end of august in the Arctic Ocean.

 

[Old Rocks]

Northern Sea Route - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

However, it was only in 1878 that Finnish-Swedish explorer Nordenskiöld made the first complete passage of the North East Passage from west to east, in the Vega expedition. The ship's captain on this expedition was Lieutenant Louis Palander of the Swedish Royal Navy.

One year before Nordenskiöld's voyage, commercial exploitation of a section of the route started with the so-called Kara expeditions, exporting Siberian agricultural produce via the Kara Sea. Of 122 convoys between 1877 and 1919 only 75 succeeded, transporting as little as 55 tons of cargo. From 1911 the Kolyma steamboats ran from Vladivostok to the Kolyma once a year.

In 1912, two Russian expeditions set out; Captain Georgy Brusilov and the Brusilov Expedition in the Santa Anna, and Captain Alexander Kuchin with Vladimir Rusanov in the Gerkules; each with a woman on board. Both expeditions were hastily arranged, and both disappeared. The German Arctic Expedition of 1912, led by Herbert Schröder-Stranz, ended disastrously with only 7 of 15 crew members surviving the preliminary expedition to Nordaustlandet.[3][4]

In 1915, a Russian expedition led by Boris Vilkitskiy made the passage from east to west with the icebreakers Taymyr and Vaygach.[5]

Nordenskiöld, Nansen, Amundsen, DeLong, Makarov and others also led expeditions; mainly for scientific and cartographic purposes.

After the Russian Revolution[edit]
The introduction of radio, steamboats, and icebreakers made running the Northern Sea Route viable. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Soviet Union was isolated from the western powers, which made it imperative to use this route. Besides being the shortest seaway between the western and far eastern USSR, it was the only one that lay completely inside Soviet internal waters and did not impinge on waters of nearby opposing countries.

In 1932, a Soviet expedition led by Professor Otto Yulievich Schmidt was the first to sail all the way from Arkhangelsk to the Bering Strait in the same summer without wintering en route. After a couple more trial runs, in 1933 and 1934, the Northern Sea Route was officially defined and open and commercial exploitation began in 1935. The next year, part of the Baltic Fleet made the passage to the Pacific where armed conflict with Japan was looming.

A special governing body Glavsevmorput (Chief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route) was set up in 1932, and Otto Schmidt became its first director. It supervised navigation and built Arctic ports.

So, with ice breakers, the route was used in the years prior to WW2.

 

[Old Rocks]

Northern Sea Route - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In 2009, the Bremen-based Beluga Group claimed they were the first Western company to attempt to cross the Northern Sea Route for shipping without assistance from icebreakers, cutting 4000 nautical miles off the journey between Ulsan, Korea and Rotterdam.[12][14] The voyage was widely covered and sometimes incorrectly said to be the first time when non-Russian ships make the transit.[15][16][17][18] In 1997, a Finnish oil tanker, Uikku, sailed the length of the Northern Sea Route from Murmansk to the Bering Strait, becoming the first Western ship to complete the voyage.[13]

However, the new (2008) ice-strengthened heavy lift vessels Beluga Fraternity and Beluga Foresight commenced an East-to-West passage of the Northern Sea Route in August 2009 [13][19] as part of a small convoy escorted by the Russian nuclear icebreaker NS 50 Let Pobedy, westward through the Bering, Sannikov, and Vilkitskiy Straits. The two vessels embarked Russian ice pilots for the voyage to the western Siberian port of Novyy, in the Yamburg region in the delta of the Ob River. The ships arrived at Novyy on 7 September, discharged their cargo to barges and departed on 12 September, bound for the Kara Gates and Rotterdam. They were the first non-Russian commercial vessels to complete this journey, but not without Russian assistance.[20] The captain of the Beluga Foresight, Valeriy Durov, described the achievement as "...great news for our industry."[20] The president of Beluga Shipping claimed the voyage saved each vessel about 300,000 euros, compared to the normal Korea-to-Rotterdam route by way of the Suez Canal. The company did not disclose how much they paid for the escort service and the Russian pilots. An 18 September 2009 press release stated that the company is already planning for six vessels to make Arctic deliveries in 2010.[21] It is not clear that this plan was followed up on.

In 2009, the first two international commercial cargo vessels traveled north of Russia between Europe and Asia.[22] In 2011, 18 ships have made the now mostly ice-free transit.[23] In 2011, 34 ships made the transit up from a total of 6 ships in 2010.[24] In 2012, 46 commercial ships made the transit. Petroleum products constituted the largest cargo group.[25] In 2013 71 commercial ships made the transit.[26]

July 28, 2009 the sailing yacht RX II, 36 feet, with expedition leader Trond Aasvoll and crew Hans Fredrik Haukland and Finn Andreassen left Vardø in Norway on a quest to circumnavigate the North Pole. The northern sea route proved ice free and the three Norwegians sailed into the Bering Strait September 24. But Russian bureaucracy managed to do what the arctic waters didn't: to stop their effort to sail around in one season. The boat over-wintered in Nome, and finished the trip through the Northwest passage the next summer.[27]

In September 2010, two yachts completed circumnavigation of the Arctic: Børge Ousland's team aboard The Northern Passage, and Sergei Murzayev's team in the Peter I. These were the first recorded instances of the circumnavigation of the Arctic by sailing yachts in one season.[28]

The largest ship as of 2011 is the 117,000 tonne SCF Baltica loaded with condensate.[29]

Well, while the passage has been made before, nothing like the present number of ships have don so in one year. A number that is increasing rapidly every year.

 

[mamooth]

The U. Bremen maps have better resolution, and show how fragmented the ice is north of Alaska and East Siberia.

 

[Kosh]

I know what we can do, we can start to pay attention to climate (in the 1990's) and prove the global is warming during a warming trend and pin on human activities so we can redistribute the 47 Trillion dollars equal around the world.

Oh wait the AGW cult has already had that idea...

 

[Old Rocks]

Northern Sea Route Information Office
NSR navigational season 2014 facts by 08.08.2014:
General info
Permissions issued by NSR Administration 519
Vessels currently operating in the NSR water area 82
Transit statistics
Completed transit voyages
Cargo transported in transit (thousand tons)
Looks like a lot more ships are planning to use the Northeast Passage this year

 

[westwall]

Northern Sea Route - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In 2009, the Bremen-based Beluga Group claimed they were the first Western company to attempt to cross the Northern Sea Route for shipping without assistance from icebreakers, cutting 4000 nautical miles off the journey between Ulsan, Korea and Rotterdam.[12][14] The voyage was widely covered and sometimes incorrectly said to be the first time when non-Russian ships make the transit.[15][16][17][18] In 1997, a Finnish oil tanker, Uikku, sailed the length of the Northern Sea Route from Murmansk to the Bering Strait, becoming the first Western ship to complete the voyage.[13]

However, the new (2008) ice-strengthened heavy lift vessels Beluga Fraternity and Beluga Foresight commenced an East-to-West passage of the Northern Sea Route in August 2009 [13][19] as part of a small convoy escorted by the Russian nuclear icebreaker NS 50 Let Pobedy, westward through the Bering, Sannikov, and Vilkitskiy Straits. The two vessels embarked Russian ice pilots for the voyage to the western Siberian port of Novyy, in the Yamburg region in the delta of the Ob River. The ships arrived at Novyy on 7 September, discharged their cargo to barges and departed on 12 September, bound for the Kara Gates and Rotterdam. They were the first non-Russian commercial vessels to complete this journey, but not without Russian assistance.[20] The captain of the Beluga Foresight, Valeriy Durov, described the achievement as "...great news for our industry."[20] The president of Beluga Shipping claimed the voyage saved each vessel about 300,000 euros, compared to the normal Korea-to-Rotterdam route by way of the Suez Canal. The company did not disclose how much they paid for the escort service and the Russian pilots. An 18 September 2009 press release stated that the company is already planning for six vessels to make Arctic deliveries in 2010.[21] It is not clear that this plan was followed up on.

In 2009, the first two international commercial cargo vessels traveled north of Russia between Europe and Asia.[22] In 2011, 18 ships have made the now mostly ice-free transit.[23] In 2011, 34 ships made the transit up from a total of 6 ships in 2010.[24] In 2012, 46 commercial ships made the transit. Petroleum products constituted the largest cargo group.[25] In 2013 71 commercial ships made the transit.[26]

July 28, 2009 the sailing yacht RX II, 36 feet, with expedition leader Trond Aasvoll and crew Hans Fredrik Haukland and Finn Andreassen left Vardø in Norway on a quest to circumnavigate the North Pole. The northern sea route proved ice free and the three Norwegians sailed into the Bering Strait September 24. But Russian bureaucracy managed to do what the arctic waters didn't: to stop their effort to sail around in one season. The boat over-wintered in Nome, and finished the trip through the Northwest passage the next summer.[27]

In September 2010, two yachts completed circumnavigation of the Arctic: Børge Ousland's team aboard The Northern Passage, and Sergei Murzayev's team in the Peter I. These were the first recorded instances of the circumnavigation of the Arctic by sailing yachts in one season.[28]

The largest ship as of 2011 is the 117,000 tonne SCF Baltica loaded with condensate.[29]

Well, while the passage has been made before, nothing like the present number of ships have don so in one year. A number that is increasing rapidly every year.

How many are trying it this year?

 

[Old Rocks]

Northern Sea Route Information Office

NSR navigational season 2014 facts by 08.08.2014:
General info
Permissions issued by NSR Administration 519
Vessels currently operating in the NSR water area 82
Transit statistics
Completed transit voyages
Cargo transported in transit (thousand tons)

Looks like a bunch are planning to.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

That's local, not global

 

[SSDD]

Whether you use the curve or linear line, the result is that before the 21st century is done, there will be on ice at the end of august in the Arctic Ocean.

And if that happens, do you think it will be unprecedented?...will it be the first time such a thing happened or will it just be business as usual for exiting an ice age?

 

[mamooth]

This map shows tracks of ships currently trying to run the Northwest Passage. Nobody has done it yet this year; the purple line is Amundsen's route.

S/V Novara

 

[Meathead]

Looks like the Northeast Passage is open.

http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/NEWIMAGES/arctic.seaice.color.000.png

Go for it! Bye enjoy the trip. Oh, you should know that the sun has started moving back south so you better hurry, that spot won't be open very long.

And I predict the ice coverage this winter will be equal to more than last year there. Just sayin.

Others are already doing just that.

Northeast Passage to revolutionize global shipping | Global Risk Insights

The Northeast Passage voyage cuts a journey between Rotterdam and Yokohoma, among the world’s busiest ports, with 4450 miles in 13 days. Travelling from Vancouver to Rotterdam through the Arctic rather than through Panama saves 2242 miles.

Shipping companies have been quick to capitalize on this shortcut. In 2010, only 4 commercial ships sailed through the Northeast Passage. This number increased to 46 in 2012 and 71 in 2013 (for comparison, 18,000 vessels go through Suez every year). With more than 90 percent of trade carried by sea, China is starting to realize this potential.

If, by 2020, 10 percent of its export is transported through the Northeast, it will be worth an estimated $700 billion, bringing immense values through a region that previously held minimal economic interest.

Sounds like a win-win situation. Canada and Russia stand to benefit the most.

 

[jc456]

Go for it! Bye enjoy the trip. Oh, you should know that the sun has started moving back south so you better hurry, that spot won't be open very long.

And I predict the ice coverage this winter will be equal to more than last year there. Just sayin.

Others are already doing just that.

Northeast Passage to revolutionize global shipping | Global Risk Insights

The Northeast Passage voyage cuts a journey between Rotterdam and Yokohoma, among the world’s busiest ports, with 4450 miles in 13 days. Travelling from Vancouver to Rotterdam through the Arctic rather than through Panama saves 2242 miles.

Shipping companies have been quick to capitalize on this shortcut. In 2010, only 4 commercial ships sailed through the Northeast Passage. This number increased to 46 in 2012 and 71 in 2013 (for comparison, 18,000 vessels go through Suez every year). With more than 90 percent of trade carried by sea, China is starting to realize this potential.

If, by 2020, 10 percent of its export is transported through the Northeast, it will be worth an estimated $700 billion, bringing immense values through a region that previously held minimal economic interest.

Sounds like a win-win situation. Canada and Russia stand to benefit the most.

I'm taken aback at his position. He isn't clear on why this is dangerous or threatening. But, we're all used to it.