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At the end of December, a Russian icebreaker completed the fastest transit of the Northern Sea Route. Along with setting the speed record, the icebreaker also completed the trip more than a month after the shipping season usually ends in the Arctic.
The Northern Sea Route runs along Russia’s Arctic coast from the Barents Sea in the west to the Bering Strait in the east.
According to an article published by the Russian media outlet Port News, the Vaygach, a nuclear-powered icebreaker, took just 7.5 days to complete the trip.
It left from the Siberian side of the Bering Strait on Dec. 17, covering more than 2,200 nautical miles before reaching its destination in the White Sea on Dec. 25.
Statistics from the past few years show a handful of
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other transits taking less than eight days, so it’s not the speed itself that’s most impressive but the time of year it took place.
According to statistics from the Northern Sea Route Information Office, the last three shipping seasons wrapped up in mid-November.
Walt Meier, a research scientist for NASA and co-author of NOAA’s 2015 Arctic Report Card on Sea Ice, said the Vaygach's successful transit is a sign of changing ice conditions in the Arctic.
"Doing it this late in the year is pretty unusual and is an indication that the ice is pretty thin," Meier explained, adding, "they have confidence that they can get through without too much trouble."
For more of the Alaska Dispatch News story: www.adn.com
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