OP-ED: Perspective on the Northern Routes Between the Atlantic and Pacific

By Harry Valentine

Since the days of the maritime Silk Road and the early wind-driven sailing vessels, seafarers have consistently sought the shortest maritime route between distant ports of call. Before the development of the Suez Canal, seafarers sought alternative maritime routes between European ports and the ports at the spice lands of the East Indies and also China. One such route saw ships begin to sail around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa.

Other seafarers explored alternative sea routes via Cape Horn and a possible northern sea route between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Several ships were lost while exploring that alternative route. The search for a shorter maritime route between Asian and European ports resulted in surveyors exploring a possible connection between the Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea, via the Dead Sea. Later research resulted in the development of the Suez Canal.

The developers of the Suez Canal recognized a need for a shorter maritime route between Europe and Pacific coast ports of the Americas. That recognition led to the development of the Panama Canal. However, there is still ongoing interest in an even shorter northern maritime route, via the Arctic. The combination of advancing maritime transportation technology and changing weather patterns has sparked renewed interest in a northern maritime route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

So far, there are 2-precedents that involve maritime vessels sailing between the North Atlantic and the Bering Strait. The first crossing occurred in 1960 when the USS Nautilus sailed under the Arctic pack ice, on the Canadian side of the Arctic. The second crossing occurred more recently when German ship sailed behind a Russian icebreaker, through the shallower Russian side of the Arctic. The warm Gulf Stream and North Atlantic Ocean currents carry warmer seawater from tropical regions, into the Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea that are both navigable for most of the year.

These seas are on the same latitudes as the Beaufort Sea and a major section of the Canadian Northwest Passage, except that there is no ocean current carrying warmer seawater into these waters. The result is thicker, less navigable and perhaps impassable pack ice along the Northern Canadian surface route. An oceanic ship train with each unit built to the length of Panamax-2 ships (1200-ft, 365m) and the beam (23-m) and draft (8m) of earlier generation ships, could sail the Russian trans-Arctic route during favorable weather conditions. The Canadian Northwest Passage may be impassable to such technology despite the power and thrust of multiple engines and many propellers.

The Northern Russian trans-arctic route offers a shorter sailing distance between European ports (Baltic Sea, Mediterranean Sea and North Sea) and the Bering Strait, compared to a route via the south of Greenland (impassable pack ice to the northeast of Greenland). However, the deep-water trans-Arctic route through Northern Canada has proven navigable to submersible maritime technology. There may be potential to develop a submersible bulk carrier technology to sail this route, under the ice pack, should a market for such a service actually materialize.

Such technology carrying bulk freight such as compressed/liquefied natural gas or incompressible liquids such as diesel, aviation fuel or gasoline may be more capable of enduring the higher external pressures that such vessels will encounter below the ocean surface. The possible presence of large deposits of natural gas and oil buried under the Arctic regions may require the operation of such maritime technology. While the installation of pipelines that carry compressed natural gas through the cold Arctic regions may be possible, such may not be the case for pipelines that carry crude oil.

There may be a future need to develop an oil refinery along the coast of the Beaufort, to convert crude oil to gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel. Submersible maritime tanker technology would carry that bulk cargo along maritime passages located beneath the pack ice, while en route to a terminal located in calmer waters around the Gulf of St Lawrence, the mouth of the St Lawrence River or perhaps Long Island Sound. There is also the option of the submersible carrier transferring its load to a surface ship, at a transfer point located in the navigable waters of the Bering Sea or comparable Atlantic location.

The future of trans-Arctic maritime transport may likely involve different technologies operating on the Russian and Canadian sides of the Arctic. While oceanic ship trains of up to 6000-ft in length would likely navigate through the shallower surface waters of the Russian trans-Arctic route, submersible bulk carriers may operate in the deeper waters along the Canadian Northwest passage. Over the next few years, advances in maritime technology would likely play a far more significant role in introducing trans-Arctic maritime transportation, than changing weather patterns.

 

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About the Author

Mr. Valentine holds a degree in mechanical engineering from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, with specialization in thermodynamics (energy conversion) and transportation technology.
He served as a research assistant to Dr Ata Khan, professor of transportation engineering who is still on staff at Carleton University.  Mr. Valentine has a background in free-market economics and has worked as a technical journalist for the past 10-years in the energy and transportation industries.
Over a period of 20 years he has undertaken extensive research, authored and published numerous technical articles in the field of transportation energy.  His economics commentaries have included several articles on issues that pertain to electric power generation.

Mr. Valentine has technical journalistic experience covering low-grade and high-grade geothermal energy, steam generators (with continuous blow down to keep the boiler water clean), engine exhausts, solar thermal (low-grade and low-grade thermal), nuclear and coal-fired thermal steam-power stations. He can be reached at [email protected].

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