2024-03-17 12:04:46
Myth of the Northeast Passage: Since the ice cover at the northern pole has retreated, this sea route has been ice-free for merchant ships in summer. Expedition ships from Hapag-Lloyd Cruises were also able to sail there for a short time. Image: Hapag-Lloyd Cruises
Moscow’s war of aggression is bringing travel through the Russian Arctic to a standstill. The first passage of a passenger ship through the Northeast Passage was ten years ago. Captain Thilo Natke about this rare experience.
The recordings are shocking. The ice sheet that connected the land masses of Eurasia, Greenland and Canada over the Arctic Ocean is retreating from decade to decade. This means that sea routes that were previously closed will be free of ice for an increasingly longer period of time in summer. They are attractive because they are shorter than the traditional shipping routes from Europe to the Far East – and because they open up unknown worlds for tourism.
Both routes, the Northwest Passage and the Northeast Passage, shorten the sea route from Europe to the Far East by a third. If a ship travels from Rotterdam to Tokyo through the Suez Canal, it travels 21,000 kilometers. For the Northwest Passage the distance is only 15,900 kilometers, for the Northeast Passage it is only 14,100 kilometers.
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