Northwest Passage
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2008-07-14T15:37:48Z
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/* Effects of climate change */
{{otheruses|Northwest Passage (disambiguation)}}
[[Image:Northwest passage.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Northwest Passage routes]]
The '''Northwest Passage''' is a sea route through the [[Arctic Ocean]], along the northern coast of [[North America]] via waterways amidst the [[Canadian Arctic Archipelago]], connecting the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] and [[Pacific Ocean]]s.<ref>[http://m-w.com/dictionary/northwest%20passage ''Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary'' definition]</ref><ref>[http://www.carc.org/whatsnew/writings/amitchell.html ''The Northwest Passage Thawed'']</ref> The various islands of the [[archipelago]] are separated from one another and the [[Canada|Canadian]] mainland by a series of [[Arctic]] waterways collectively known as the '''Northwest Passages''' or '''Northwestern Passages'''.<ref>[http://ioc.unesco.org/oceanteacher/OceanTeacher2/06_OcDtaMgtProc/01_DataOps/06_OcDtaForm/01_OcDtaFormFunda/01_Codes/PreviousIHOandOther.htm ''IHO Codes for Oceans & Seas, and Other Code Systems''], including ''IHO 23-3rd: Limits of Oceans and Seas, Special Publication 23'', 3rd ed. (1953), published by [[International Hydrographic Organization]].</ref>
Sought by explorers for centuries as a possible trade route, it was first navigated by [[Roald Amundsen]] in 1903–1906. The Arctic [[polar ice packs|pack ice]] prevents regular [[ship transport|marine shipping]] throughout the year, but [[climate change]] is reducing the pack ice, and this [[Arctic shrinkage]] may eventually make the waterways more navigable. This and the contested [[sovereignty]] claims over the waters may complicate future shipping through the region. The [[Government of Canada|Canadian government]] considers the Northwestern Passages part of [[Canadian Internal Waters]],<ref>[http://www.tc.gc.ca/marinesafety%5CTP%5CTP14202%5Cinterpretation.htm TP 14202 E Interpretation—[[Transport Canada]] ]</ref> but various countries maintain they are an [[United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea|international strait]] or transit passage, allowing free and unencumbered passage.<ref>[http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/prb0561-e.htm#Challenges The Northwest Passage and Climate Change from the Library of Parliament—Canadian Arctic Sovereignty]</ref><ref name="icefreearctic">[http://www.natice.noaa.gov/icefree/FinalArcticReport.pdf Naval Operations in an ice-free Arctic]</ref>
==Overview==
[[Image:Strait of Anian from Nova orbis tabula by Frederik de Wit.png|350px|thumb|Strait of Anian. Upper left corner. (Frederik de Wit, ca. 1670)]]
Before the [[Little Ice Age]], the [[Vikings]] sailed as far north and west as [[Ellesmere Island]], [[Skraeling Island]] and Ruin Island for hunting expeditions and trading with the [[Inuit]] groups who already inhabited the region. Between the end of the 15th century and the 20th century, [[Colonialism|colonial powers]] from [[Eurasia]] dispatched explorers in an attempt to discover a commercial sea route north and west around North America. The Northwest Passage represented a new route to the established trading nations of [[Asia]]. In 1493 to defuse trade disputes, [[Pope Alexander VI]] split the discovered world in two between [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]]; thus [[France]], the [[Netherlands]] and [[England]] were left without a sea route to Asia, either via [[Africa]] or [[South America]].<ref name="cook">''Captain Cook'' by Vanessa Collingridge (Ebury Press) 2002 ISBN 0091888980</ref> The [[United Kingdom|British]] called the hypothetical route the ''Northwest Passage''. The desire to establish such a route motivated much of the European exploration of both coasts of North America. When it became apparent that there was no route through the heart of the continent, attention turned to the possibility of a passage through northern waters. This was driven in some part by scientific naiveté, namely an early belief that seawater was incapable of freezing (as late as the mid 18th century, [[James Cook|Captain James Cook]] had reported, for example, that [[Antarctic]] [[iceberg]]s had yielded fresh water, seemingly confirming the hypothesis), and that a route close to the [[North Pole]] must therefore exist.<ref name="cook" /> The belief that a route lay to the far north persisted for several centuries and led to numerous expeditions into the [[Arctic]], including the attempt by Sir [[John Franklin]] in 1845. In 1906, [[Roald Amundsen]] first successfully completed a path from [[Greenland]] to [[Alaska]] in the ''[[Gjøa]]''. Since that date, several fortified ships have made the journey.
From west to east the Northwest Passage runs through the [[Bering Strait]] (separating [[Russia]] and Alaska), [[Chukchi Sea]], [[Beaufort Sea]] and then through several waterways that go through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. There are five to seven different routes through the archipelago, including the [[McClure Strait]], [[Dease Strait]] and the [[Prince of Wales Strait]], but not all of them are suitable for larger ships.<ref>[http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/prb0561-e.htm#Challenges The Northwest Passage and Climate Change from the Library of Parliament—Canadian Arctic Sovereignty]</ref><ref name="Charron">{{PDFlink|[http://www.cdfai.org/PDF/Charron,%20Andrea-Paper.pdf Andrea Charron—The Northwest Passage Shipping Channel: Is Canada’s Sovereignty Really Floating Away?]|225 [[Kibibyte|KiB]]<!-- application/pdf, 230849 bytes -->}}</ref> The passage then goes through [[Baffin Bay]] and the [[Davis Strait]] into the Atlantic Ocean.
There has been speculation that with the advent of [[climate change]] the passage may become clear enough of ice to again permit safe commercial [[Ship transport|shipping]] for at least part of the year. On [[August 21]], [[2007]], the Northwest Passage became open to ships without the need of an [[icebreaker]]. According to Nalan Koc of the [[Norwegian Polar Institute]] this is the first time it has been clear since they began keeping records in 1972.<ref name="Guardian Newspaper">[http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/aug/28/climatechange.internationalnews North-West Passage is now plain sailing]</ref><ref>[http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMYTC13J6F_index_0.html Satellites witness lowest Arctic ice coverage in history]</ref>
==Historical expeditions==
[[Image:Straße von Anian.png|350px|right|thumb|Assumed route of the Strait of Anián]]
As a result of their westward explorations and their settlement of [[Greenland]], the [[Vikings]] sailed as far north and west as [[Ellesmere Island]], [[Skraeling Island]] and Ruin Island for hunting expeditions and trading with [[Inuit]] groups. The subsequent arrival of the [[Little Ice Age]] is thought to be one of the reasons that further European seafaring into the Northwest Passage ceased until the late 15th century.
=== Strait of Anián ===
In 1539, [[Hernán Cortés]] commissioned [[Francisco de Ulloa]] to sail along the peninsula of [[Baja California peninsula|Baja California]] on the Western coast of America. Ulloa concluded that the [[Gulf of California]] was the southernmost section of a strait supposedly linking the Pacific with the [[Gulf of St. Lawrence]]. His voyage perpetuated the notion of the [[Island of California]] and saw the beginning of a search for the Strait of Anián.
The strait probably took its name from Ania, a Chinese province mentioned in a 1559 edition of [[Marco Polo]]'s book; it first appears on a map issued by [[Italy|Italian]] [[cartographer]] [[Giacomo Gastaldi]] about 1562. Five years later [[Bolognini Zaltieri]] issued a map showing a narrow and crooked Strait of Anian separating [[Asia]] from [[Americas|America]]. The strait grew in [[Europe]]an imagination as an easy [[sea-lane]] linking Europe with the residence of the [[Great Khan]] in [[Cathay]] (northern [[China]]). It was originally placed at approximately the latitude of [[San Diego, California]], leading some who live in the region to call it "Anian" or "Aniane".
Cartographers and seamen tried to demonstrate its reality. [[Sir Francis Drake]] sought the western entrance in 1579. The Greek pilot [[Juan de Fuca]] claimed he had sailed the strait from the Pacific to the [[North Sea]] and back in 1592. The Spaniard [[Bartholomew de Fonte]] claimed to have sailed from [[Hudson Bay]] to the Pacific via the strait in 1640.
=== Northern Atlantic ===
The first recorded attempt to discover the Northwest passage was the east-west voyage of [[John Cabot]] in 1497, sent by [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] in search of a direct route to the [[Orient]].<ref name="cook" /> The next of several British expeditions was launched in 1576 by [[Martin Frobisher]], who took three trips west to what is now the [[Canadian Arctic]] in order to find the passage. [[Frobisher Bay]], which he first charted, is named after him. As part of another hunt, in July 1583 Sir [[Humphrey Gilbert]], who had written a treatise on the discovery of the passage and was a backer of Frobisher, claimed the territory of [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]] for the English crown. On [[August 8]], [[1585]] the [[English people|English]] explorer [[John Davis (English explorer)|John Davis]] for the first time entered [[Cumberland Sound]], [[Baffin Island]].
The major rivers on the east coast were also explored in case they could lead to a transcontinental passage. [[Jacques Cartier]]'s explorations of the [[Saint Lawrence River]] were initiated in hope of finding a way through the continent. Indeed, Cartier managed to convince himself that the St. Lawrence was the Passage; when he found the way blocked by rapids at what is now [[Montreal]], he was so certain that these rapids were all that was keeping him from China (in French, ''la Chine''), that he named the rapids for China. To this day, they are the [[Lachine Rapids]]. In 1609 [[Henry Hudson]] sailed up what is now called the [[Hudson River]] in search of the Passage; encouraged by the saltiness of the water, he reached present-day [[Albany, New York]], before giving up. He later explored the Arctic and [[Hudson Bay]].
=== Northern Pacific ===
Although most Northwest Passage expeditions originated in Europe or on the east coast of North America and sought to traverse the Passage in the westbound direction, some progress was made in exploration of its western end as well. In 1728 [[Vitus Bering]], a Danish Navy officer in Russian service, used the strait first discovered by [[Semyon Dezhnyov]] in 1648 but later accredited to and named after Bering (the [[Bering Strait]]), concluding North America and [[Russia]] were separate land masses. Later in 1741 with Lieutenant [[Alexei Chirikov]] he went in search of further lands beyond [[Siberia]]. Whilst separated, Chirikov discovered several of the [[Aleutian Islands]] while Bering charted the Alaskan region before the [[scurvy]]-ravaged ship wrecked off [[Kamchatka]].
In 1762, the English trading ship ''[[Octavius (ship)|Octavius]]'' reportedly hazarded the passage from the west but became trapped in [[sea ice]]. In 1775, the [[whaler]] ''Herald'' found the ''Octavius'' adrift near [[Greenland]] with the bodies of her crew frozen below decks. Thus the ''Octavius'' may have earned the distinction of being the first Western sailing ship to make the passage, although the fact that it took 13 years and occurred after the crew was dead somewhat tarnishes this achievement. (The veracity of the ''Octavius'' story is questionable.)
The Spanish made numerous voyages to the northwest coast of North America during the late 18th century. Determining whether a North West Passage existed was one of the motivations for this effort. Among the voyages that involved careful searches for a Passage include the 1775 and 1779 voyages of [[Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra]]. The journal of [[Francisco Antonio Mourelle]], who served as Quadra's second in command in 1775, fell into English hands and was translated and published in [[London]]. Captain [[James Cook]] made use of the journal during his explorations of the region. In 1791 [[Alessandro Malaspina]] sailed to [[Yakutat Bay]], Alaska, which was rumored to be a Passage. In 1790 and 1791 [[Francisco de Eliza]] led several exploring voyages into the [[Strait of Juan de Fuca]], searching for a possible North West Passage and finding the [[Strait of Georgia]]. To fully explore this new inland sea an expedition under [[Dionisio Alcalá Galiano]] was sent in 1792. He was explicitly ordered to explore all channels that might turn out to be a North West Passage.
=== Cook and Vancouver ===
In 1776 Captain James Cook was despatched by the [[Admiralty]] in [[Great Britain]] under orders driven by a 1745 act which, when extended in 1775, promised a £20,000 prize for whoever discovered the passage. Initially the Admiralty had wanted [[Charles Clerke]] to lead the expedition, with Cook (in retirement following his exploits in the Pacific) acting as a consultant. However Cook had researched Bering's expeditions, and the Admiralty ultimately placed their faith in the veteran explorer to lead with Clerke accompanying him.
After journeying through the Pacific, in another west–east attempt, Cook began at [[Nootka Sound]] in April 1777 and headed north along the coastline, charting the lands and searching for the regions sailed by the Russians 40 years previously. The Admiralty's orders had commanded the expedition to ignore all inlets and rivers until they reached a [[latitude]] of 65°N. Cook, however, failed to make any progress in sighting a Northwestern Passage.
Various officers on the expedition including [[William Bligh]], [[George Vancouver]] and [[John Gore (seaman)|John Gore]] thought the existence of a route was 'improbable'. Before reaching 65°N they found the coastline pushing them further south, but Gore convinced Cook to sail on into the [[Cook Inlet]] in the hope of finding the route. They continued to the limits of the Alaskan peninsula and the start of the thousand-mile chain of Aleutian Islands. Despite reaching 70° N they encountered nothing but icebergs.<ref name="cook" />
From 1791 to 1795, the [[Vancouver Expedition]] (led by George Vancouver who had accompanied Cook previously) surveyed in detail all the passages from the [[British Columbia Coast|Northwest Coast]] and confirmed that there was no such passage south of the Bering Strait.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.mysticseaport.org/library/initiative/ImPage.cfm?PageNum=2&BibId=17506&ChapterId=3
|title=Vancouver's discovery of Puget Sound
|author=Meany, Edmond Stephen
|accessdate=April 13|accessyear=2007
|publisher=Mystic Seaport}}</ref> This conclusion was supported by the evidence of [[Alexander MacKenzie|Alexander Mackenzie]] who explored the Arctic and Pacific oceans in 1793.
=== 19th century ===
[[Image:Caspar David Friedrich 006.jpg|thumb|right|''Das Eismeer'' (''The Sea of Ice''), 1823 - 1824, a painting by [[Caspar David Friedrich]], inspired by [[William Edward Parry]]'s account from the 1819-1820 expedition. ]]
In the first half of the 19th century, some parts of the actual Northwest Passage (north of the Bering Strait) were explored separately by many expeditions, including those by [[John Ross (Arctic explorer)|John Ross]], [[William Edward Parry]], and [[James Clark Ross]]; overland expeditions were also led by [[John Franklin]], [[George Back]], [[Peter Warren Dease]], [[Thomas Simpson (explorer)|Thomas Simpson]], and [[John Rae (explorer)|John Rae]]. In 1825 [[Frederick William Beechey]] explored the north coast of Alaska, discovering [[Point Barrow]].
Sir [[Robert McClure]] was credited with the discovery of the real Northwest Passage in 1851 when he looked across [[McClure Strait]] from [[Banks Island]] and viewed [[Melville Island, Canada|Melville Island]]. However, this strait was not navigable to ships at that time, and the only usable route linking the entrances of Lancaster Strait and [[Dolphin and Union Strait]] was discovered by John Rae in 1854.
===Franklin expedition===
{{main|Franklin's lost expedition}}
In 1845, a well-equipped two-ship expedition led by Sir [[John Franklin]] sailed to the Canadian Arctic to chart the final unknown parts of the Northwest Passage. Confidence was high, as there was less than {{km to mi|num=500|abbr=no|spell=Commonwealth|precision=0|wiki=yes}} of unexplored Arctic mainland coast left. When the ships failed to return, relief expeditions and search parties explored the Canadian Arctic, resulting in final charting of a possible passage. Traces of the expedition have been found, including notes that indicate that the ships became ice-locked in 1846 near [[King William Island]], about half way through the passage, and were unable to extricate themselves. Franklin died in 1847 and the last of the party in 1848, after abandoning the ships and attempting to escape overland by [[sled]]ge. While [[starvation]] and [[scurvy]] contributed to the deaths of the crew, another factor may have been significant. The expedition took 8,000 tins of food which were sealed with a lead-based [[solder]]. The lead appears to have contaminated the food, poisoning the crew. They would have become weak and disoriented — later stages of [[lead poisoning]] include insanity and death. In 1981 Dr. [[Owen Beattie]], an anthropologist from the [[University of Alberta]], examined remains from sites associated with the expedition.<ref>Arctic paleoradiology: portable radiographic examination of two frozen sailors from the Franklin Expedition (1845-1845) PMID 3300222</ref> This led to further investigations and the examination of tissue and bone from the frozen bodies of three seamen, exhumed from the [[permafrost]] of [[Beechey Island]]. Laboratory tests revealed high concentrations of lead in all three. <ref>{{cite web |last=Bayliss |first=Richard |title=Sir John Franklin's last arctic expedition: a medical disaster. J.R. Soc. Med. 2002:95 151-153 |url=http://www.jrsm.org/cgi/content/full/95/3/151 |accessdate=2008-01-26}}</ref> Another researcher suggests that [[botulism]], and not lead poisoning, was the cause of deaths among crew members.<ref>Horowitz BZ: Polar poisons; did Botulism doom the Franklin expedition? PMID 14677794</ref> New evidence shows that [[cannibalism]] may also have been a last resort for some of the crew. <ref>{{cite web |last=Keenleyside |first=Anne |title=The final days of the Franklin Expedition: new skeletal evidence. Arctic 50:(1) 36-36 (1997) |url=http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic50-1-36.pdf |accessdate=2008-01-26}}</ref>
===McClure expedition===
[[Image:Millais - Überfahrt nach Nordwest.jpg|thumb|right|''The North-West Passage'' (1874), a painting by [[John Everett Millais]] representing British frustration at the failure to conquer the passage.]]
During the search for Franklin, Commander [[Robert McClure]] and his crew in [[HMS Investigator|HMS ''Investigator'']] traversed the Northwest Passage from west to east in the years 1850 to 1854, partly by ship and partly by sledge. McClure started out from England in December 1849, sailed the Atlantic Ocean south to [[Cape Horn]] and entered the Pacific Ocean. He sailed the Pacific north and passed through the Bering Strait, turning east at that point and reaching Banks Island.
McClure's ship was trapped in the ice for three winters near [[Banks Island]], at the western end of [[Viscount Melville Sound]]. Finally McClure and his crew—who were by that time dying of starvation—were found by searchers who had travelled by sledge over the ice from a ship of Sir [[Edward Belcher]]'s expedition, and returned with them to Belcher's ships, which had entered the sound from the east. On one of Belcher's ships, McClure and his crew returned to England in 1854, becoming the first people to circumnavigate the Americas and to discover and transit the Northwest Passage, albeit by ship and by sledge over the ice. This was an astonishing feat for that day and age, and McClure was knighted and promoted to captain, and both he and his crew shared £10,000 awarded them by the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|British Parliament]].
===John Rae===
{{main|John Rae (explorer)}}
The expeditions by Franklin and McClure were in the tradition of British exploration: well-funded ship-borne expeditions using modern technology, and usually including [[Royal Navy|British Naval]] personnel. By contrast, John Rae was an employee of the [[Hudson's Bay Company]], which was the major driving force behind exploration of the Canadian North. They adopted a pragmatic approach and tended to be land-based. While Franklin and McClure attempted to explore the passage by sea, Rae explored by land, using dog sleds and employing techniques he learned from the native [[Inuit]]. The Franklin and McClure expeditions each employed hundreds of personnel and multiple ships. John Rae's expeditions included less than ten people and succeeded. Rae was also the explorer with the best safety record, having lost only one man in years of traversing Arctic lands. In 1854, <ref>[http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=40508 John Rae—Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online]</ref> Rae returned with information about the outcome of the ill-fated Franklin expedition.
===Amundsen expedition===
The Northwest Passage was not conquered by sea until 1906, when the [[Norway|Norwegian]] explorer [[Roald Amundsen]], who had sailed just in time to escape creditors seeking to stop the expedition, completed a three-year voyage in the converted 47-ton herring boat ''[[Gjøa]]''. At the end of this trip, he walked into the city of [[Eagle, Alaska]], and sent a telegram announcing his success. Although his chosen east–west route, via the [[Rae Strait]], contained young ice and thus was navigable, some of the waterways were extremely shallow making the route commercially impractical.
===Later expeditions===
The first traversal of the Northwest Passage via [[dog sled]]<ref>[http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/pqrst/rasmussen_knud.html Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen], biography by Sam Alley. [[Minnesota State University]].</ref> was accomplished by [[Greenland]]er [[Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen|Knud Rasmussen]] while on the [[Fifth Thule Expedition]] (1921–1924). Rasmussen, and two [[Kalaallit|Greenland Inuit]], travelled from the Atlantic to the Pacific over the course of 16 months via dog sled.
In 1940, Canadian RCMP officer [[Henry Larsen]] was the second to sail the passage, crossing west to east, from [[Vancouver]] to [[City of Halifax|Halifax]]. More than once on this trip, it was unknown whether the ''[[St. Roch]]'' a [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] "ice-fortified" [[schooner]] would survive the ravages of the sea ice. At one point, Larsen wondered "if we had come this far only to be crushed like a nut on a shoal and then buried by the ice." The ship and all but one of her crew survived the winter on [[Boothia Peninsula]]. Each of the men on the trip was awarded a medal by Canada's sovereign, [[George VI of the United Kingdom|King George VI]], in recognition of this notable feat of Arctic navigation.
Later in 1944, Larsen's return trip was far more swift than his first; the 28 months he took on his first trip was significantly reduced, setting the mark for having traversed it in a single season. The ship followed a more northerly partially uncharted route, and it also had extensive upgrades.
On [[July 1]], [[1957]], the [[United States Coast Guard]] [[Cutter (ship)|cutter]] ''[[USCGC Storis (WMEC-38)|Storis]]'' departed in company with U.S. Coast Guard cutters ''Bramble'' (WLB-392) and ''SPAR'' (WLB-403) to search for a deep draft channel through the Arctic Ocean and to collect [[Hydrography|hydrographic]] information. Upon her return to Greenland waters, the ''Storis'' became the first [[United States|U.S.]]-registered vessel to circumnavigate North America. Shortly after her return in late 1957, she was reassigned to her new home port of [[Kodiak, Alaska]].
In 1969, the [[Manhattan (ship)|SS ''Manhattan'']] made the passage, accompanied by the Canadian [[icebreaker]] [[CCGS John A. Macdonald|''Sir John A. Macdonald'']]. The ''Manhattan'' was a [[Ice class|specially reinforced]] [[supertanker]] sent to test the viability of the passage for the transport of oil. While the ''Manhattan'' succeeded, the route was deemed not to be cost effective, and the [[Trans-Alaska Pipeline System|Alaska Pipeline]] was built instead.
In June 1977 sailor [[Willy de Roos]] left [[Belgium]] to attempt crossing the Northwest Passage in his {{m to ft|num=13.8|abbr=yes|spell=Commonwealth|precision=0|wiki=yes}} steel yacht ''Williwaw''. He reached the Bering Strait in September and after a stopover in [[Victoria, British Columbia]], went on to round [[Cape Horn]] and sail back to Belgium, thus being the first sailor to circumnavigate the Americas entirely by ship.<ref>[http://archives.cbc.ca/IDCC-1-73-2349-13665/politics_economy/northwest_passage/ Willy de Roos' big journey at the CBC archives]</ref>
In 1984, the commercial passenger vessel [[MS Explorer|MS ''Explorer'']] (which sank in the [[Antarctic Ocean]] in 2007) became the first [[cruise ship]] to navigate the passage.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7108835.stm#graphic|title=Stricken Antarctic ship evacuated|accessdate=2007-11-28|author=}}</ref>
[[David Scott Cowper]] set out in July 1986 from England in a 12.8 m (42 foot) lifeboat, the ''Mabel El Holland'', and survived 3 Arctic winters in the Northwest Passage before reaching the Bering Strait in August 1989. He then continued around the world via the [[Cape of Good Hope]] to arrive back on [[24 September]] [[1990]], becoming the first vessel to circumnavigate via the Northwest Passage<ref>Cruising, London, Summer 1992, p35</ref>.
On [[September 1]], [[2001]], ''Northabout'', an {{m to ft|num=14.3|abbr=yes|spell=Commonwealth|precision=0|wiki=no}} aluminium [[sailboat]] with diesel engine<ref>[http://www.northabout.com/ ''Northabout'']</ref>, built and captained by Jarlath Cunnane, completed the Northwest Passage east-to-west
from [[Ireland]] to the Bering Strait. The voyage from the Atlantic to the Pacific was completed in a very fast time of 24 days. The ''Northabout'' then cruised in Canada for two years before it returned to Ireland in 2005 via the [[Northeast Passage]] thereby completing the first east-to-west [[circumnavigation]] of the pole by a single sailboat. The Northeast Passage return along the coast of [[Russia]] was slower, starting in 2004, with an ice stop and winter over in [[Khatanga (village)|Khatanga]], [[Siberia]]—hence the return to Ireland via the [[Norway|Norwegian]] coast in October 2005. On [[January 18]], [[2006]], The Cruising Club of America awarded Jarlath Cunnane their Blue Water Medal, an award for "meritorious seamanship and adventure upon the sea displayed by amateur sailors of all nationalities."
On [[July 18]], [[2003]], a father and son team, Richard and Andrew Wood, with Zoe Birchenough, sailed a yacht [http://www.norwegianblue.co.uk ''Norwegian Blue''] into the Bering Strait. Two months later she sailed into the Davis Strait to become the first British yacht to transit the Northwest Passage from west to east. She also became the only British vessel to complete the Northwest Passage in one season.
On [[May 19]] [[2007]], a French sailor, Sébastien Roubinet, and one other crew member left [[Anchorage, Alaska]], in ''Babouche'', a {{m to ft|num=7.5|abbr=yes|spell=Commonwealth|precision=0|wiki=no}} ice [[catamaran]] designed to sail on water and slide over ice. The goal was to navigate west to east through the Northwest Passage by sail only. Following a journey of more than {{convert|7200|km|mi|0}}, Roubinet reached Greenland on [[September 9]] [[2007]], thereby completing the first Northwest Passage voyage made without engine in one season.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.babouche-expe.eu/home.html|publisher=Sébastien Roubinet|title=The North-West Passage by Sailboat|accessdate=2007-09-09}}</ref>
==International waters dispute==
The Canadian government claims that some of the waters of the Northwest Passage, particularly those in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, are internal to Canada, giving Canada the right to bar transit through these waters.<ref name="icefreearctic"/> Most maritime nations,<ref name="dispute">Nathan VanderKlippe. [http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=6d4815ac-4fdb-4cf3-a8a6-4225a8bd08df&k=73925 Northwest Passage gets political name change], CanWest News Services, ''[[Ottawa Citizen]]'', April 9, 2006.</ref> including the [[United States]] and the nations of the [[European Union]],<ref>[http://www.isuma.net/v02n04/huebert/huebert_e.shtml Climate Change and Canadian Sovereignty in the Northwest Passage]</ref> consider them to be an [[United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea|international strait]], where foreign vessels have the right of "transit passage".<ref>[http://www.carc.org/whatsnew/writings/amitchell.html The Northwest Passage Thawed]</ref> In such a régime, Canada would have the right to enact fishing and environmental regulation, and fiscal and smuggling laws, as well as laws intended for the safety of shipping, but not the right to close the passage.<ref name="UNCLOS">[http://www.admiraltylawguide.com/conven/unclospart3.html UNCLOS part III, STRAITS USED FOR INTERNATIONAL NAVIGATION]</ref><ref>[http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/prb0561-e.htm#Challenges The Northwest Passage and Climate Change from the Library of Parliament—Canadian Arctic Sovereignty]</ref> In 1985, the U.S. icebreaker [[USCGC Polar Sea (WAGB-11)|''Polar Sea'']] passed through, and the U.S. government made a point of not asking permission from Canada. They claimed that this was simply a cost-effective way to get the ship from Greenland to Alaska and that there was no need to ask permission to travel through an international strait. The Canadian government issued a declaration in 1986 reaffirming Canadian rights to the waters. However, the United States refused to recognize the Canadian claim. In 1988 the governments of Canada and the U.S. signed an agreement, "Arctic Cooperation", that did not solve the sovereignty issues but stated that U.S. icebreakers would require permission from the Government of Canada to pass through.<ref name="RUS">[http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/prb0561-e.htm#BRelations Relations With the United States from the Library of Parliament—Canadian Arctic Sovereignty]</ref>
In late 2005, it was alleged that U.S. nuclear submarines had travelled unannounced through Canadian Arctic waters, sparking outrage in Canada. In his first news conference after the [[Canadian federal election, 2006|federal election]], Prime Minister-designate [[Stephen Harper]] contested an earlier statement made by the U.S. ambassador that Arctic waters were international, stating the Canadian government's intention to enforce its sovereignty there. The allegations arose after the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] released photographs of the [[USS Charlotte (SSN-766)|USS ''Charlotte'']] surfaced at the [[North Pole]].<ref name="Charlotte North Pole">{{Cite web|url=http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=21223|title= USS Charlotte Achieves Milestone During Under-Ice Transit|accessdate=2007-10-25|author=Dave Ozeck, Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet Public Affairs}}</ref><ref>Most of the activities involving American submarines (including their current and past positions and courses) are [[classified information|classified]], so therefore under that policy the U.S. Navy has declined to reveal which route(s) the ''Charlotte'' took to reach and return from the Pole.</ref>
On [[April 9]], [[2006]], Canada's [[Canada Command|Joint Task Force North]] declared that the [[Canadian Forces|Canadian military]] will no longer refer to the region as the Northwest Passage, but as the [[Canadian Internal Waters]].<ref name="Edmonton Journal">{{Cite web|url=http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=6d4815ac-4fdb-4cf3-a8a6-4225a8bd08df&k=73925|title=Northwest Passage Gets Political Name Change|accessdate=2007-02-01}}</ref> The declaration came after the successful completion of Operation Nunalivut ([[Inuktitut]] for "the land is ours"), which was an expedition into the region by five military patrols. <ref name="ArcticNet">{{Cite web|url=http://www.arcticnet-ulaval.ca/index.php?fa=News.showNews&home=4&menu=55&sub=1&id=128|title=Arctic Trek Shows Canada's Sovereignty|accessdate=2007-02-01}}</ref>
In 2006 a report prepared by the staff of the Parliamentary Information and Research Service of Canada suggested that because of the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]] the United States might be less interested in pursuing the international waterways claim in the interests of having a more secure North American perimeter.<ref name="RUS" /> This report was based on an earlier paper, ''The Northwest Passage Shipping Channel: Is Canada’s Sovereignty Really Floating Away?'' by Andrea Charron, given to the 2004 [[Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute]] Symposium.<ref name="Charron" /> Later in 2006 former [[United States Ambassador to Canada]], [[Paul Cellucci]] agreed with this position; however, the current ambassador, [[David Wilkins]], states that the Northwest Passage is in international waters.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/05/AR2006110500286.html ''Dispute Over NW Passage Revived'' from the [[Washington Post]] ]</ref>
On [[July 9]] [[2007]] Prime Minister Harper announced the establishment of a deep-water port in the far North. In the government press release the Prime Minister is quoted as saying, “Canada has a choice when it comes to defending our sovereignty over the Arctic. We either use it or lose it. And make no mistake, this Government intends to use it. Because Canada’s Arctic is central to our national identity as a northern nation. It is part of our history. And it represents the tremendous potential of our future."<ref name="Canadian Government Press Release"> {{Cite web|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSN0929956620070709|title=Prime Minister Stephen Harper announces new Arctic offshore patrol ships |accessdate=2007-07-09}}</ref>
On [[July 10]], [[2007]], [[Rear Admiral]] [[Timothy McGee (USN)|Timothy McGee]] of the United States Navy, and Rear Admiral [[Brian Salerno]] of the United States Coast Guard announced that the United States would also be increasing its ability to patrol the Arctic.<ref name=Bloomberg20070710>
{{cite news
| date=[[July 10]], [[2007]]
| publisher=[[Bloomberg L.P.|Bloomberg]]
| url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aK9JSBhBiJMg&refer=canada
| title=U.S. Bolsters Arctic Presence to Aid Commercial Ships (Update1)
| author=[[Hugo Miller]]
| accessdate=2007-07-10
}}</ref>
==Effects of climate change==
[[Image:2007 Arctic Sea Ice.jpg|thumb|right|[[Arctic shrinkage]] as of 2007 compared to previous years]]
Around the time of the [[Viking]] [[saga]]s and for at least two more centuries (a conservative interval from AD 1000 to 1200 that also happens to include the dates allotted to some of the larger Norse ships), prior to the [[Little Ice Age]] some limited regions of the Arctic may have been somewhat warmer than they were in the early twentieth century, and were certainly warmer than they were in the depths of the Little Ice Age (see [[Medieval Warm Period]]). Also, the sea level in the Arctic was different from that of the present day.<ref name="Spira Solaris">{{Cite web|url=http://www.spirasolaris.ca/sbb4g1bv.html|title=The Last Viking: West by North West|accessdate=2007-02-01|author=John N. Harris}}</ref> Because of [[Post-glacial rebound|glacial rebound]] land levels of the land masses about the Northwest Passage have risen upwards of 20 m in the centuries after the Viking times.
In the summer of 2000, several ships took advantage of thinning summer ice cover on the Arctic Ocean to make the crossing. It is thought that [[climate change]] is likely to open the passage for increasing periods of time, making it attractive as a major shipping route. However the passage through the Arctic Ocean would require significant investment in escort vessels and staging ports. Therefore the Canadian commercial marine transport industry does not anticipate the route as a viable alternative to the [[Panama Canal]] even within the next 10 to 20 years.<ref name="Arctic Marine Transport Workshop">{{Cite web|url=http://www.arctic.gov/files/AMTW_book.pdf|title=Arctic Marine Transport Workshop September 2004|accessdate=2007-07-09}}</ref>
{{wikinews|Arctic ice levels at record low opening Northwest Passage}}
On [[September 14]], [[2007]], the [[European Space Agency]] stated that, based on satellite images, ice loss had opened up the passage "for the first time since records began in 1978". According to the [[Arctic Climate Impact Assessment]], the latter part of the 20th century and the start of the 21st had seen marked [[Arctic shrinkage|shrinkage of ice cover]]. The extreme loss in 2007 rendered the passage "fully navigable".<ref name="esa">{{cite web | url=http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMYTC13J6F_index_0.html | title=Satellites witness lowest Arctic ice coverage in history | accessdate=2007-09-14}}</ref><ref name="Beeb">{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6995999.stm|title=Warming 'opens Northwest Passage'|accessdate=2007-09-14}}</ref> However, the ESA study was based only on analysis of satellite images and could in practice not confirm anything about the actual navigation of the waters of the passage. The ESA suggested the passage would be navigable "during reduced ice cover by multi-year ice pack" (namely sea ice surviving one or more summers) where previously any traverse of the route had to be undertaken during favourable seasonable climatic conditions or by specialist vessels or expeditions. The agency's report speculated that the conditions prevalent in 2007 had shown the passage may "open" sooner than expected.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6999078.stm BBC News "Plain Sailing on the Northwest Passage"]</ref> However, expeditions in 2008 reported that the passage was still not navigable and not ice-free.<ref>[http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080524.TRIPPING24/TPStory Globe and Mail "Tripping through the Northwest Passage"]</ref>
Scientists at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union on [[December 13]], [[2007]], revealed that NASA satellites observing the western Arctic showed a 16% decrease in cloud coverage during the summer of 2007 compared to 2006. This would have the effect of allowing more sunlight to penetrate Earth's atmosphere and warm the Arctic Ocean waters, thus melting sea ice and contributing to the opening the Northwest Passage.<ref>Andrea Thompson, [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316753,00.html Extra Sunshine Blamed for Part of Arctic Meltdown] ''Foxnews'', Friday, December 14, 2007</ref>
==See also==
*[[North West Passage Territorial Park]]
*[[Territorial claims in the Arctic]]
*[[Northern Sea Route]] (Northeast Passage)
*[[Arctic Bridge]]
*[[Manhattan (ship)]]
*[[Panama Canal]]
==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}
==References==
<div class="references-small">
* Berton, Pierre. ''The Arctic Grail The Quest for the North West Passage and the North Pole, 1818-1909''. New York: Viking, 1988. ISBN 0670824917
* Day, Alan Edwin. ''[http://worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/oclc/60557543?page=frame&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.loc.gov%2Fcatdir%2Ftoc%2Fecip0513%2F2005015424.html&title=&linktype=digitalObject&detail= Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Northwest Passage]''. Historical dictionaries of discovery and exploration, no. 3. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press, 2006. ISBN 0810854864
* Griffiths, Franklyn. ''Politics of the Northwest Passage''. Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1987. ISBN 0773506136
* Waterman, Jonathan. ''[http://worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/oclc/46638791?page=frame&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.loc.gov%2Fcatdir%2Fdescription%2Frandom0414%2F2001087355.html&title=&linktype=digitalObject&detail= Arctic Crossing A Journey Through the Northwest Passage and Inuit Culture]''. New York: Knopf, 2001. ISBN 0375404090
* Williams, Glyndwr. ''Voyages of Delusion The Quest for the Northwest Passage''. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. ISBN 0300098669
</div>
== External links ==
* [http://norwegianblue.co.uk/northwest_passage.htm ''Norwegian Blue'', first British Yacht to transit from West to East]
* [http://www.mountaineering-scotland.org.uk/news/nwpassage.html Irish Expedition completes the elusive Northwest Passage]
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/arctic/ Arctic Passage] at [[PBS]]' [[Nova (TV series)|Nova]] site has articles, photographs and maps about the Northwest Passage, particularly the [[John Franklin|1845 Franklin]] and [[Roald Amundsen|1903 Amundsen]] expeditions
* [http://collections.ic.gc.ca/arctic/explore/intro.htm Exploration of the Northwest Passage]
* [http://www.collectionscanada.ca/2/3/h3-1810-e.html The Sir John Franklin Mystery]
* [http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/09/news/arctic.php 'The Great Game in a cold climate']
* [http://www.ric.edu/rpotter/woodman/utjulik.html Mission to Utjulik]
* [http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF6/639.html The Voyage of the ''Manhattan'']
* [http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=1429085&C=america U.S. nuclear submarines travel in Canadian Arctic waters without permission]
* [http://www.washingtontimes.com/specialreport/20050612-123835-3711r.htm Canada considers the Northwest Passage its internal waters, but the United States insists it is an international strait.]
* [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/nixon/e1/53180.htm Information Memorandum for Mr. Kissinger—The White House] 1970
* [http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-73-2349/politics_economy/northwest_passage/ CBC Digital Archives—Breaking the Ice: Canada and the Northwest Passage]
* ''[http://www.neara.org/CARLSON/novadania.pdf Nova Dania: Quest for the NW Passage]''—[[NEARA Journal]] Vol. 39 #2
*[http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0005816 An article on the Northwest Passage from ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'']
[[Category:Arctic]]
[[Category:Arctic Ocean]]
[[Category:Exploration]]
[[Category:Geography of Canada]]
[[Category:Maritime history of Canada]]
[[Category:Disputed waters|Northwest passage]]
[[Category:Shipping routes]]
[[da:Nordvestpassagen]]
[[de:Nordwestpassage]]
[[et:Loodeväil]]
[[es:Paso del Noroeste]]
[[eo:Nordokcidenta pasejo]]
[[fr:Passage du Nord-Ouest]]
[[gd:Seòlaid an Iar-Thuath]]
[[zh-classical:西北水道]]
[[is:Norðvesturleiðin]]
[[it:Passaggio a nord-ovest]]
[[he:המעבר הצפון מערבי]]
[[ka:ჩრდილოდასავლეთის გასასვლელი]]
[[hu:Északnyugati átjáró]]
[[nl:Noordwestelijke Doorvaart]]
[[ja:北西航路]]
[[no:Nordvestpassasjen]]
[[pl:Przejście Północno-Zachodnie]]
[[pt:Passagem do Noroeste]]
[[ru:Северо-Западный проход]]
[[fi:Luoteisväylä]]
[[sv:Nordvästpassagen]]
[[wa:Passaedje Nôrouwess]]
[[zh:西北水道]]