The Northwest and Northeast Passages. Are they really the shortest?

DIIS Brief quoted by Greenlandic and Circumpolar media

The Greenlandic newspaper Sermitsiaq and the Circumpolar news agency SIKU cited a new DIIS Brief on the northern sea routes the day it was published, 26 February, 2009. The brief deals with the possibility of heavy transit shipping in the Northeast Passage and the Northwest Passage. It concludes that heavy transit is not likely, while so-called destination shipping is another matter.

Sermitsiaq ran the headlines: Et blåt Polarhav er ønsketænkning. Det er for tidligt at glæde sig over en snarlig åbning af en sejlrute gennem Arktis, viser et brief fra Dansk Institut for Internationale Studier, DIIS

Northwest Passage still a dream say scientists. Recent indications that commercial navigation of the Arctic Ocean is an imminent possibility have been discredited by polar sea researchers

Greenland defence concerns. The possibility of ice-free waters in the polar seas surrounding Greenland has caused the Danish Defence Commission to call for more military presence in the area

While SIKU said: Don't book your ticket yet. A Danish researcher says shipping through the Arctic Ocean will remain dangerous and uneconomical for a long while.

Click the title of the DIIS Brief for a free download, maps, useful links, and a video: Er de nordlige søruter virkelig kortere? Lidt for rosenrøde billeder af et blåt Polarhav?

A version in English will be available 5 March at the latest. “Are the northern sea routes really the shortest? Maybe a too rose-coloured picture of the blue Arctic ocean”.

Contact: Senior researcher Svend Aage Christensen,

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