|
Transpolar Sea Route
The Transpolar Sea Route (TSR) is a future Arctic shipping route running from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean across the center of the Arctic Ocean. The route is also sometimes called Trans-Arctic Route. In contrast to the Northeast Passage (including the Northern Sea Route) and the Northwest Passage it largely avoids the territorial waters of Arctic states and lies in international high seas. The route is currently only navigable by heavy icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...s. However, due to the increasing decline of Arctic sea ice extent, the route is slated to emerge as the predominant Arctic shipping route by 2030. The TSR is about long and offers significant distance savings between Europe and Asia. It is the shortest of the Arctic shippin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sea Lanes
A sea lane, sea road or shipping lane is a regularly used navigable route for large water vessels (ships) on wide waterways such as oceans and large lakes, and is preferably safe, direct and economic. During the Age of Sail, they were determined by the distribution of land masses but also by the prevailing winds, whose discovery was crucial for the success of long maritime voyages. Sea lanes are very important for seaborne trade. History The establishment of the North Atlantic sea lanes was inspired by the sinking of the US mail steamer SS ''Arctic'' by collision with the French steamer SS ''Vesta'' in October 1854 which resulted in the loss of over 300 lives. Lieutenant M. F. Maury of the US Navy first published a section titled "Steam Lanes Across the Atlantic" in his 1855 ''Sailing Directions'' proposing sea lanes along the 42 degree latitude. A number of international conferences and committees were held in 1866, 1872, 1887, 1889, and 1891 all of which left the desi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arctic Council
The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum that addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and the indigenous people of the Arctic. At present, eight countries exercise sovereignty over the lands within the Arctic Circle, and these constitute the member states of the council: Canada; Denmark; Finland; Iceland; Norway; Russia; Sweden; and the United States. Other countries or national groups can be admitted as observer states, while organizations representing the concerns of indigenous peoples can be admitted as indigenous permanent participants. History The first step towards the formation of the Council occurred in 1991 when the eight Arctic countries signed the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS). The 1996 Ottawa Declaration established the Arctic Council as a forum for promoting cooperation, coordination, and interaction among the Arctic states, with the involvement of the Arctic Indigenous communities and other Arctic inhabitants on issues ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protection Of The Arctic Marine Environment
The Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment Working Group (PAME) is one of six working groups encompassed by the Arctic Council. Founded as part of the 1991 Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy, it assimilated into the structure of the Council following the signing of the 1996 Ottawa Declaration by the eight Arctic states. The group compiles representatives from each state, (Canada, Denmark (representing both Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States) as well as its Permanent Participants (Aleut International Association (AAI), Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC), Gwich'in Council International (GCI), Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON), and the Saami Council) representing the region's indigenous populations, and a number of observers. The Working Group claims to operate across the domains of Arctic shipping, maritime pollution, marine protected areas, ecosystem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polar Geography
''Polar Geography'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on the physical and human aspects of the Polar regions of Earth. It is published by Taylor & Francis and was established in 1977. From 1980 to 1994 it was known as ''Polar Geography and Geology''. History The journal was established in 1977 with the financial support of the National Science Foundation and in cooperation with the American Geographical Society "in an effort to fill part of the gap in the broad area of physical and human geography of the Arctic and Antarctic". Founders included Theodore Shabad (Columbia University), who also became the journal's first editor-in-chief for 11 years, until his death in 1987, and Melvin G. Marcus (Arizona State University). Originally the journal was published by Scripta Technica Inc. and later by Bellwether Publishing. It was acquired by Taylor & Francis in 2007. At its inception the journal was named ''Polar Geography'', changed three years afterwar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Finnafjord Port
The Finnafjord Port ( ) is a proposed deepwater port and industrial site in Iceland. Construction is expected to begin between 2021 and 2023 and will continue until at least 2040. Background In recent years, Trans-polar shipping along the Northeast Passage has become more viable due to the decline of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. If Arctic Sea Ice continues to shrink, the Northeast Passage could become navigable year-round, significantly reducing the journey from Asia to the United States. In 2013, the Icelandic engineering firm EFLA and Bremenports GmbH, which manages the Ports of Bremen in Germany, announced they would investigate the viability of an Arctic trans-shipment hub in Finnafjord. In 2019, Bremenports announced it had entered into a joint venture agreement with EFLA to construct the port. Currently, Bremenports owns 66% of the port, EFLA owns 26%, and the nearby municipalities of Vopnafjarðarhreppur and Langanesbyggð own 8%. EFLA claims that the port could be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MV Xue Long
''Xue Long'' (, ) is a Chinese icebreaking research vessel. Built in 1993 at Kherson Shipyard in Ukraine, she was converted from an Arctic cargo ship to a polar research and re-supply vessel by Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding of Shanghai by the mid-90s. The vessel was extensively upgraded in 2007 and 2013. , ''Xue Long'' is the only Chinese icebreaking research ship in service. A second Chinese polar icebreaker named , slightly smaller but more capable than ''Xue Long'', entered service in July 2019. Description Built at the Kherson Shipyard in Ukraine, ''Xue Long'' started her life as a Project 10621 icebreaking cargo and supply ship designed for the Russian Arctic.Alltför svåra isförhållanden för de tillgängliga fartygen . Sjöfarts T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arctic Sea Ice Decline
Arctic sea ice decline has occurred in recent decades due to the effects of climate change on oceans, with declines in sea ice area, extent, and volume. Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has been melting more in summer than it refreezes in the winter. Global warming, caused by greenhouse gas forcing is responsible for the decline in Arctic sea ice. The decline of sea ice in the Arctic has been accelerating during the early twenty‐first century, with a decline rate of minus 4.7% per decade (it has declined over 50% since the first satellite records). It is also thought that summertime sea ice will cease to exist sometime during the 21st century. This sea ice loss is one of the main drivers of surface-based Arctic amplification. Sea ice area means the total area covered by ice, whereas sea ice extent is the area of ocean with at least 15% sea ice, while the volume is the total amount of ice in the Arctic. The region is at its warmest in at least 4,000 years and the Arctic-wide melt se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arctic Shipping Routes
Arctic shipping routes are the maritime paths used by vessels to navigate through parts or the entirety of the Arctic. There are three main routes that connect the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans: the Northeast Passage, the Northwest Passage, and the mostly unused Transpolar Sea Route. In addition, two other significant routes exist: the Northern Sea Route, and the Arctic Bridge. To connect the Atlantic with the Pacific, the Northwest Passage goes along the Northern Canadian and Alaskan coasts, the Northeast Passage (NEP) follows the Russian and Norwegian coasts, and the Transpolar Sea Route crosses the Arctic through the North Pole. The Arctic Bridge is an internal Arctic route linking Russia to Canada, and the Northern Sea Route (NSR) trails the Russian coast from the Bering Strait to the East, to the Kara Sea to the West. The main difference between the NSR and the NEP is that the latter comprises the Barents Sea and provides access to the port of Murmansk, the largest Russi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Icebreaker
An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller vessels, such as the icebreaking boats that were once used on the canals of the United Kingdom. For a ship to be considered an icebreaker, it requires three traits most normal ships lack: a strengthened hull, an ice-clearing shape, and the power to push through sea ice. Icebreakers clear paths by pushing straight into frozen-over water or pack ice. The bending strength of sea ice is low enough that the ice breaks usually without noticeable change in the vessel's trim. In cases of very thick ice, an icebreaker can drive its bow onto the ice to break it under the weight of the ship. A buildup of broken ice in front of a ship can slow it down much more than the breaking of the ice itself, so icebreakers have a specially designed hull to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arctic coasts of Norway and Siberia is accordingly called the Northeast Passage (NEP). The various islands of the archipelago are separated from one another and from Mainland Canada by a series of Arctic waterways collectively known as the Northwest Passages, Northwestern Passages or the Canadian Internal Waters. For centuries, European explorers, beginning with Christopher Columbus in 1492, sought a navigable passage as a possible trade route to Asia, but were blocked by North, Central, and South America, by ice, or by rough waters (e.g. Tierra del Fuego). An ice-bound northern route was discovered in 1850 by the Irish explorer Robert McClure. Scotsman John Rae explored a more southerly area in 1854 through which Norwegian Roald Amundsen f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Icebreaker")
