For other uses, see Northwest Passage (disambiguation).
The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada.[1][2][3][4] The eastern route along the Arctic coasts of Norway and Siberia is accordingly called the Northeast Passage (NEP).
The various islands of the archipelago are separated from one another and from Mainland Canada by a series of Arctic waterways collectively known as the Northwest Passages, Northwestern Passages[5] or the Canadian Internal Waters.
For centuries, European explorers, beginning with Christopher Columbus in 1492, sought a navigable passage as a possible trade route to Asia, but were blocked by North, Central, and South America, by ice, or by rough waters (e.g. Tierra del Fuego). An ice-bound northern route was discovered in 1850 by the Irish explorer Robert McClure. Scotsman John Rae explored a more southerly area in 1854 through which Norwegian Roald Amundsen found a route, making the first complete passage in 1903–1906. Until 2009, the Arctic pack ice prevented regular marine shipping throughout most of the year. Arctic sea ice decline, linked primarily to climate change, has rendered the waterways more navigable for ice navigation.[6][7][8][9]
The contested sovereignty claims over the waters may complicate future shipping through the region: the Canadian government maintains that the Northwestern Passages are part of Canadian Internal Waters,[10] but the United States claims that they are an international strait and transit passage, allowing free and unencumbered passage.[11][12] If, as the head of a Canadian mining company claims, parts of the eastern end of the Passage are barely 15 metres (49 ft) deep,[13] the route's viability as a Euro-Asian shipping route is reduced. In 2016, a Chinese shipping line expressed a desire to make regular voyages of cargo ships using the passage to the Eastern United States and Europe, after a successful passage by Nordic Orion of 73,500 tonnes deadweight tonnage in September 2013.[14][15][needs update] Fully laden, Nordic Orion sat too deep in the water to sail through the Panama Canal.
^Mitchell, Alanna (February 5, 2000). "The Northwest Passage Thawed". The Globe and Mail. p. A9. Archived from the original on July 30, 2007.
^Brigham, L.; McCalla, R.; Cunningham, E.; et al. (2009). Brigham, L.; Santos-Pedro, V.M.; Juurmaa, K. (eds.). Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment (PDF) (Report). Norway: Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME), Arctic Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 16, 2011.
^Østreng, Willy; Eger, Karl Magnus; Fløistad, Brit; et al. (2013). Shipping in Arctic Waters: A Comparison of the Northeast, Northwest and Trans Polar Passages. Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16790-4. ISBN 978-3642167898. S2CID 41481012.
^IHO Codes for Oceans & Seas, and Other Code Systems: IHO 23-3rd: Limits of Oceans and Seas, Special Publication 23 (3rd ed.). International Hydrographic Organization. 1953. Archived from the original on July 3, 2006. Retrieved July 28, 2007.
^Cite error: The named reference esa was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Beeb was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference plain was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Keating, Joshua E. (November 30, 2009). "The Top 10 Stories You Missed in 2009: A few ways the world changed while you weren't looking". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on September 7, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
^"TP 14202 E Interpretation". Transport Canada. Archived from the original on November 14, 2007.
^Carnaghan, Matthew; Goody, Allison (January 26, 2006). Canadian Arctic Sovereignty (PDF) (Report). Library of Parliament. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 7, 2017.
^"Naval Operations in an ice-free Arctic" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 5, 2011. Retrieved March 24, 2011.
^"No to shipping ore through Northwest Passage – Baffinland CEO". Steel Guru. October 20, 2013. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2013. The head of a Canadian mining company developing a massive mineral deposit within the Arctic Circle said the Northwest Passage won't work as a viable shipping route to Europe and Asia.
^"China sets its sights on the Northwest Passage as a potential trade boon". The Guardian. April 20, 2016.
^"China used research mission to test trade route through Canada's Northwest Passage". The Globe and Mail. September 10, 2017.
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North America continued for the NorthwestPassage. John Cabot's initial failure in 1497 to find a NorthwestPassage across the Atlantic led the British...
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had opened up the NorthwestPassage "for the first time since records began in 1978", and the extreme loss in 2007 rendered the passage "fully navigable"...
During his third and final expedition, an attempt to traverse the NorthwestPassage in 1845, Franklin's ships became icebound off King William Island...
to 1906, he led the first expedition to successfully traverse the NorthwestPassage on the sloop Gjøa. In 1909, Amundsen began planning for a South Pole...
the passage on 27 September stopping at Nuuk, Greenland and reached its destination, the Port of Pori, Finland on 9 October 2013. NorthwestPassage shortened...
Irish explorer who explored the Arctic. In 1854 he traversed the NorthwestPassage by boat and sledge, and was the first to circumnavigate the Americas...
(RIB) through 5,700 nautical miles (10,600 km) of the ice-strewn NorthwestPassage. The expedition intended to raise awareness of the effects of global...
(1992) [AG5005] - Four interconnected adventures set in Night City. NorthwestPassage, by Andrew J. Lucas and Jeff Ranger (1995) [AG5070] - The characters...
is included in what has been called the Northeast Passage, analogous to Canada's NorthwestPassage. The Northern Sea Route itself does not include the...
fabled NorthwestPassage?" Archived 9 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine CNN. 29 August 2002. "Largest Cruise Ship Ever To Sail NorthwestPassage Docks...
12-string guitar in his performances. His best-known pieces include "NorthwestPassage", "Barrett's Privateers", "The Mary Ellen Carter", "Make and Break...
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explorer Martin Frobisher. While leading an expedition to find the NorthwestPassage, Frobisher thought he had discovered gold ore around the body of water...
joint Muscovy Company/East India Company expedition in search of the NorthwestPassage 1607: Henry Hudson explores Spitsbergen 1608: Henry Hudson gets as...