The Northwest Passage is a sea route that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Arctic and the Canadian islands. For many centuries the Northwest Passage was looked at as a possible trade route but it has always beenblocked by Arctic ice. Recently the ice of the Arctic has been melting at a very strong pace and climate experts think that the waterway might open up for ships in the near future.

Canadian climatologists predict that within the next one or two decades the route could be open during the summer months. One of the main problems to overcome are the permanent ice sheets that do not come and go every year but stay all year long, so-called multi-ice sheets.

On the other side in order to navigate through the Northwest Passage stronger ships will be needed to break ice sheets that floataround. Instead of investing a lot of money in such vessels many companies will still use the Panama Canal to get their goods from one side of the American coast to the other.

Northwest Passage routes through the Canadian islands

 

However, even if ice breakers manage to keep the Northwest Passage open for a longer period of time, it will take normal cargo ships much longer to navigatearound the numerous islands in the Canadian Arctic. Another problem for shipping is that many parts of the Arctic Ocean and the northern polar region do not haveaccurate maps. Most maps date back to the expeditions of the  19th century .  

Experts suggest that there are some alternative passages that could prove to be better than the Northwest Passage. One of them is the so-called Northeast Passage, a waterway along the northern coast of Russia. There are no islands to navigate through and climate conditions are sometimes better than in Canada. The route is already open during two months of the year.

In the long term global warming may cause Arctic ice to disappear completely during the summer months making it possible to navigate a direct route across the North Pole.

Energy experts think that there are oil and gas fields under the vast Arctic ice sheets. If they are right, exploration and exploitation of such fields may begin in the near future, making a new sea route very probable.