Danish<\/a> shipping companies, among others, is proof enough of that\u2014\u201cit does seem that [the researchers] have picked up a few windows for navigability that maybe have been off people\u2019s radar.\u201d<\/p>\nVeland cautions, however, that \u201cwhen you have the benefit of hindsight [the Arctic] looks a lot more navigable than when you are trying to forecast.\u201d The problem that navigators face is interannual sea ice variability. Year to year, there is a high variability in the exact number of days with low sea ice, particularly at either end of the summer. This makes sending ships through the Arctic very risky, and Veland does not expect this variability to decrease for another decade or two.<\/p>\n
But Feng did find that since 2004 open-water vessels have been able to travel through the Arctic for the whole of September. And one of his collaborators in China who has been talking to commercial shipping companies discovered that they are already going out with ships and icebreakers and testing the routes. \u201cThey just try to explore the possibilities,\u201d Feng says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As the climate warms and sea ice melts, trans-Arctic shipping routes are becoming easier to navigate, a prospect that is enticing to freight companies. These routes can cut up to 9,000 kilometers off a one-way trip between East Asia and <\/p>\n
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