Paths of Northwest passage and Northern sea route.

Global climate change is rapidly melting the Arctic icecap, enabling some ships to finally travel over continents, both through the legendary Northwest Passage over North America and a Northeast Passage over Eurasia. We interviewed Dr. Rockford Weitz, who leads the Arctic Futures Initiative, a consulting group advising businesses on how to capitalize on the effects of the melting Arctic icecap.

How viable is the Northwest Passage for shipping today?
RW: Today’s Northwest Passage is not that viable. The real action is actually going to be over the Northeast Passage or Northern Sea Route (see map). The Northwest Passage could also be interesting, but it’s full of islands. Ice predicting models suggest that the Northeast Passage is going to open first. If current trends continue, some scientists in the United States say that the entire Arctic Ocean could be ice-free during the summer by 2013.

If the ocean does become ice-free could shipping times be reduced?
RW: Say you’re sailing from the Nagoya Port in Japan, exporting automobiles to Rotterdam, the biggest port in Europe. Your current route heads south past Taiwan through the South China Sea, around Singapore into the Malacca Strait, across the Indian Ocean, through the Red Sea, then the Gulf of Aden, around Somalia, through the Suez Canal, across the Mediterranean, through the Strait of Gibraltar, north into the Atlantic and then to Rotterdam via the English Channel. You could save more than 40 percent of that journey if you sail straight across the Arctic. And, you’re not going through the Strait of Malacca or Somalia where piracy has been a problem.

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