Forget the Northwest Passage – set a course for the North Pole

The Northwest Passage is legendary amongst seafarers, but global warming is happening so rapidly experts are predicting a transpolar route across the North Pole will open up within 30 years.

Experts consider it likely the polar ice-cap will melt in summertime by the middle of the century, the Chinese government’s latest Artic Policy document reveals.

“Over the past three decades, temperature has been rising continuously in the Arctic, resulting in diminishing sea ice in summer,” it says. “Scientists predict that by the middle of this century or even earlier, there may be no ice in the Arctic Ocean for part of the year. With the ice melted, conditions for the development of the Arctic may be gradually changed, offering opportunities for the commercial use of sea routes and development of resources in the region.”

China refers to possible arctic shipping routes as the ‘Polar Silk Road’ and describes the North Pole option as the ‘central route’ to distinguish it from the Northwest Passage skirting the North American continent, and the Nothern Sea Route that skirts Russia.

You can read more in The Maritime Executive here.

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