Arctic Shipping Lanes Open for First Time Since 2013
September 11, 2015 (
Source/More)
With the opening of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) through the Russian arctic earlier this month, the two major shipping routes through the Arctic are now both officially open for business.
The NSR, running entirely in arctic waters along the Russian coast, opened this year on September 3rd following the opening of the Northeast Passage on August 18th and the Northwest Passage, across Canada and Alaska, on September 1, according to the Global Ice Center (GIC) at Weathernews, a private weather service company headquartered in Japan.
This year marks the first time
both passages have opened since 2013.
{Maybe because the winters were so harsh and cold and there is no global warming trend?}
The Northeast Passage is expected to stay open until early October with the Northwest Passage closing by late September, making it possible for commercial vessels to enter the icy region, Weathernews says.
“The GIC expects ice to continue melting
until mid-September when air temperatures will start to fall {You mean its going to do what it always does rather than stay warm?}, and sea ice refreezes outward,” the company said in statement to the media. “In the northwest passage
where ice easily freezes over the many islands, closing is expected in the latter half of September, followed by the northeast side in October when coastal ice reappears, and closes the route.”