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The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the . Sought by explorers for centuries as a possible trade route, it was first navigated by ] but various countries maintain they are an International Strait or transit passage, allowing free and unencumbered passage. The Northwest Passage and Climate Change from the Library of Parliament - Canadian Arctic Sovereignty Naval Operations in an ice-free Arctic OVERVIEW Between the end of the 15th Century and the 20th Century , Colonial Powers from Eurasia dispatched explorers in an attempt to discover a commercial sea route north and west around North America. The 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. These led to a number of expeditions to the Arctic , most notably the attempt by Sir John Franklin . In 1906, Roald Amundsen first successfully completed a path from Greenland to Alaska in the Gjøa . Since that date, a number of ice-fortified ships have made the journey. From west to east the Northwest Passage runs through the and the Davis Strait into the Atlantic Ocean. There has been speculation that with the advent of Global Warming the passage may become clear enough of ice to permit safe commercial 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 since they began keeping records in 1972. North-West Passage is now plain sailing FIRST ATTEMPTS In 1539, Hernán Cortés commissioned Francisco De Ulloa to sail along the peninsula of Baja California in search of the '' Strait Of Anián ''. The first of several British expeditions was launched in 1576 by Martin Frobisher , who took three trips to what is now the Canadian Arctic in order to find the passage. Frobisher Bay , which he discovered, 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's, claimed the territory of Newfoundland for the English crown. On August 8 , 1585 the English explorer John Davis for the first time entered Cumberland Sound , Baffin Island . As well as Arctic expeditions the major rivers on the east coast were also explored in case they could lead to a transcontinental passage. Jacques Cartier explorations of the Saint Lawrence River were initiated with some hope of finding a way through the continent. In 1609 Henry Hudson sailed up what is now called the Hudson River in search of the passage; he later explored the Arctic and Hudson Bay . In 1762, the English trading ship '' Octavius '' supposedly hazarded the passage, but became trapped in Sea Ice . In 1775, the Whaler ''Herald'' found the Octavius drifting 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.) |
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