Comments on: Northwest Passage

By: Tony

Tony — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:34:35 +0000

It should be noted that Amundsen et al also had to winter over. Not quite the same as the current situation.

By: Ben

Ben — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 15:57:46 +0000

I'm merely quoting from/referring to this article from the European Space Agency - http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMYTC13J6F_index_0.html

By: James Goneaux

James Goneaux — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 14:37:47 +0000

Ben: Please define "ice-free". I'm not being disingenuous, but I need to know: if you are using solely satellite data, what is the resolution?

This is very much like the New York Times article of a few years ago, that said much the same thing about the North Pole being ice free…

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 19:50:24 +0000

Andy, I'm not sure who you're calling sheep, but I'm afraid none of your examples suffice; both the St Roch and of course Amundsen's ship the Gjøa were specifically reinforced to withstand the pressure of getting stuck in sea ice, and encountered huge amounts of ice when traversing the Northwest passage. The whole point of my post (and the current media interest) is that the Northwest passage is now ice-free for the first time in history (which, as explained in my comment above goes back at least as far as 1762).

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Thu, 20 Sep 2007 17:41:51 +0000

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By: Andy Cunningham

Andy Cunningham — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 11:40:44 +0000

These people are sheep. It’s being widely reported across the news media that because of Global Warming, Arctic ice has shrunk to the lowest level on record: ABC, CNN, Wash Post Associated Press, etceteras ad nauseum. Specifically, these same news reports claim that the so-called Northwest Passage, the shortest route linking Europe with Asia, has opened for the first time. This is backed up with satellite images showing that the Arctic ice had shrunk to the lowest level on record since the agency began satellite surveillance in 1978. However, A quick Google/Lexis/Nexis check turns up that successful sea-based explorations of the Arctic dates back as far as 1903. All of these voyages can be corroborated by Canadian maritime historical records. Just a few examples will suffice:
Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian explorer successfully navigated the Northwest Passage on August 26, 1905. This was in a wooden hulled boat with, it appears, a crew of about 10.
The Passage was also conquered several times in the 1940s by another wooden hulled vessel, the St. Roch. Built for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Force between 1929 and 1939, the St. Roch made three voyages to the Arctic. Between 1940 and 1942 St. Roch navigated the Northwest Passage, arriving in Halifax harbour on October 11, 1942. St. Roch was the second ship to make the passage, and the first to travel the passage from west to east. In 1944, St. Roch returned to Vancouver via the more northerly route of the Northwest Passage, making her run in 86 days. The Northwest Passage has been navigable by many ships, large and small, wooden hulled and metal hulled, in the past and these voyages have been well documented.

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By: James Goneaux

James Goneaux — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 19:39:56 +0000

Sorry, just caught your bit about being "reinforced". But still, it was tiny schooner…

By: James Goneaux

James Goneaux — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 19:36:53 +0000

AHHHH. First time in history? How do you explain the St. Roch, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police schooner that traversed the Northwest Passage…three times. In the 1940s:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Roch

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Wed, 19 Sep 2007 15:25:38 +0000

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