Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is approximately 5780 km long sea route that connects the north of the American continent in the Atlantic with the Pacific Ocean. It leads across the Arctic Ocean and its marginal seas and the associated sea routes through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago -.
- 2.1 Economics
- 2.2 policy
- 2.3 Tourism
History
Early trips to the Arctic Ocean
Since 1520 Magellan had discovered a sea route that led around South America to Asia, speculated geographers, navigators and researchers about a possible route to the north of America. Since such a Northwest Passage cruises between Europe and East Asia would significantly shortened, the seafaring nations studied more than 400 years after a drive in the Arctic Ocean.
Maybe Beginning in 1473, so (possibly accompanied by the Portuguese João Vaz Corte- Real) pushed forward 19 years before the voyage of Columbus, a Danish expedition under the leadership of originating from Hildesheim Didrik Pining of the waters around Greenland to Newfoundland. Around 1480 the Portuguese began fishing off Newfoundland. They were followed in 1500 Basques and Bretons. Between 1492 and 1495 sailed João Fernandes ( " O Labrador " ) with Pedro de Barcellos the waters between Newfoundland, the Labrador and Greenland named after him. Thereafter, groped expeditions on land and water gradually farther and farther to the north-west into the icy island maze of Arctic Ocean front.
The search for the passage
Already in 1524, the French king the Italian Captain Giovanni da Verrazano sent out to find further north entities controlled by Spain and Portugal Atlantic routes, a " northern corridor " to India. Also on the search for such passage succeeded in 1534 the French captain Jacques Cartier, Newfoundland north to sail around and driving into the St. Lawrence River.
The English navigator Martin Frobisher undertook 1576-1578 three trips with the express purpose of finding the Northwest Passage. He was followed by other English captains like John Davis, Henry Hudson, Thomas Button, William Baffin, Bylot, Robert, Thomas James and Luke Foxe and the Danish navigator Jens Munk. In the 1630s it was the search for the time being, however, since Baffin and James argued that exists, access to the passage from either the Hudson Bay or from the Baffin Bay from. Only at the beginning of the 18th century have been made sporadic efforts again, including in 1719 and 1742 by James Knight by Christopher Middleton.
Finding a passage in the Northwest to Asia was also the reason for James Cook's last Pacific voyage 1776-1779. However, his forays he had to stop because of plummeting winter on the Bering Strait. After Cook's death in a scuffle in Hawaii took Lt. Charles Clerke the command of the expedition. From the Russian output port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky was broken up again, but failed at 70 ° 33 ' N on the pack ice, which seemed even stronger than last year.
Also from the Pacific Ocean operated 1817/18, the Russian Rurik expedition under Captain Otto von Kotzebue. However, they investigated only the hitherto unknown coast of Alaska to the Kotzebue Sound and ultimately ended inconclusively.
Tragic fame John Franklin, whose lost third expedition of 1845 perennial search operations moved to yourself. In the course of unsuccessful rescue expeditions Robert McClure finally able to cross the first to the north polar archipelago. He was celebrated as the discoverer of the Northwest Passage, but received only half of the ausgelobten prize money since he leave his ship and had to cover a portion between the Banks and Melville Island on foot, where he was picked up by other rescue ships. Ultimately, so only another possible route had proved impassable. The actual discoverer of the last navigable part piece of the passage was John Rae. But since this was a civilian and had made the discovery of the country, it was unthinkable as an award winner for the Royal Navy.
First traversals
The first complete maritime passage succeeded Roald Amundsen 1903-1906 on the discovered by John Rae route through the James Ross Strait, Rae Strait and Simpson Strait on the small ship Gjoa. He circumnavigated the King William Island to the east, avoiding the Victoria Strait west of the island, where the Franklin expedition had failed. Amundsen wintered twice on King William Island. He had (in the language of the Inuit: Uqsuqtuuq ) with the Inuit in the area of today's settlement Gjoa Haven whole summer spent on King William Island, in order to acquire their Arctic experience.
1940-1942 crossed Henry Larsen in the schooner St. Roch the sea for the first time in a west-east direction with one wintering on Victoria Island and the Boothia Peninsula.
The first tanker mastered the icebreaker converted to U.S. ship SS Manhattan through the Northwest Passage from west to east in a little more than four weeks. The ride, which successfully ended on September 15, 1969, should demonstrate the economic viability of oil transportation through the Arctic Ocean. However, the maintenance costs proved due to ice damage then still be too large.
The first cruise ship, which mastered the Northwest Passage with passengers on board, was the World Discoverer in 1985.
Arved Fuchs sailed in 1993 with his expedition ship, the Dagmar Aaen, the Northwest Passage in east-west direction and 2003/2004, once again in a west-east direction.
In September 2008, Camilla DESGAGNES went through as planned, the Northwest Passage was the first merchant ship. On demand, the passage has been described as ice. In September 2013, the Nordic Orion passed the directions on the way from Vancouver, Canada to Pori, Finland.
Importance
Economy
The sea route between Europe and Asia (Rotterdam, Tokyo) is considerably reduced: The existing route through the Suez Canal is 21.1 thousand kilometers, the new route would have a length of 15,900 km. In addition, he avoids affected by piracy areas such as the waters around Indonesia and the Horn of Africa. Because of the climatic conditions, the Northwest Passage was previously economically barely usable. Climate scientists assume, however, that this will change in the coming years due to global warming. In September 2007, the ESA satellite images on which the Canadian part of the passage was ( for the first time since records began ) completely free of ice and thereby navigable. Cause a decrease of the ice in the northern polar region on only three million square kilometers, one million square kilometers less than in the year 2006. Northeast and Northwest Passage were the end of August 2008, both for the first time simultaneously ice-free. The Northeast Passage is provided usable for the route from Europe to Asia even shorter than the Northwest Passage.
Even today, the Northwest Passage is always longer passable. Progress in the construction of arctic USEFULLY tanker ( not icebreaker ) added. The economic development of the Northwest Passage is currently being prepared intensively. The plan is to create a service and security infrastructure for tanker traffic. The expansion of central Inuit settlement Qausuittuq at the Resolute Bay to the deep water port is being considered.
Policy
With the growing economic importance of the Northwest Passage also their political importance is growing. Your possession is disputed: Canada claims the sea itself, the United States sees it as international waters.
1985 went through the icebreaker Polar Sea U.S. the passage without permission Canada. Canada protested vehemently. Then agreed Canada and the United States in 1988 in a Co-operation Agreement ( Arctic Co - operation Agreement ) that the United States will henceforth seek the approval of Canada, Canada but they should not refuse. The question whether the passage is an international waters, was not clarified.
Between Canada and Denmark, the territorial affiliation of Hans Island off the coast of Greenland is controversial.
In 2005, the U.S. Navy released images showing the nuclear submarine USS Charlotte upon surfacing at the North Pole. Canada accused the United States then to have again used its Arctic waters without notice.
In the 2006 election campaign promised the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to defend the territorial claims of his country. Since then, several patrols that were made up of regular armed forces and Canadian Rangers, carried out in the northern regions of Canada were. The Canadian Navy sent in 2006 for the first time in decades icebreaker in the Northwest Passage. In June 2010, the government adopted a program for the modernization of the Canadian naval forces ( National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy), 33 billion Canadian dollars are available for the decades to come. Among other things, eight eisfähige offshore patrol vessels to secure the exclusive economic zone of Canada to be purchased in the Arctic.
Tourism
On Russian icebreakers can sail through the Northwest Passage within twelve days about 100 passengers. Otherwise, the Northwest Passage will only play a small but slowly growing role. In August 2009, the first time drove two cruise ships ( Hanseatic and Bremen) with nearly 350 passengers through the Northwest Passage from both sides toward each other and met in the middle in Gjoa Haven. Both ships are now regularly passages in late summer. Also, a French provider is added. Conveniently, however, these trips are not: between 10,000 and 20,000 euros are required for a drive-through.