Prompted by a comment by Tom in the June open thread, the time has evidently come to open the 2023 Northwest Passage passage thread. First of all let’s get our bearings with the help of this map of the area:

and another map detailing the routes through Canadian Arctic Archipelago that have previously been successfully traversed:

As our starter for ten for 2023, there is already plenty of open water in the Amundsen Gulf, together with plenty of melt ponding on the remaining fast ice in Franklin and Darnley Bays:

That is reflected in the current Canadian Arctic Archipelago sea ice area graph:

Let’s also take a look at the third dimension. Here’s the PIOMAS gridded thickness map for May 31st:

Here too is the last CryoSat-2/SMOS merged thickness map of the winter, from April 15th:

To get a better feel for what might happen during the coming summer season let’s also take a look at the Canadian Ice Service‘s “stage of development” charts. Here’s the most recent one for the “Western Arctic”, from May 29th:

Note that none of the assorted routes through the North West Passage are currently blocked by old ice. Not even Route 1 via McClure Strait!

Finally, for the moment at least, here too is the CIS’s sea ice concentration chart:

[Edit – June 15th]

Surface melt is now visible across much of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago:

[Edit – July 15th]

Thanks to the heads up from Sigurd, I’m now tracking SY Thindra on her west to east to west voyage through the Northwest Passage. Thindra is currently hugging the coast of south-west Greenland:

Here’s the Canadian Ice Service’s current chart of the sea ice concentration en route to Lancaster Sound:

[Edit – July 18th]

The skies were fairly clear over the Canadian Arctic Archipelago yesterday:

The ice in both McClure and Barrow Straits is breaking up, so it currently seems feasible that route 1 via the Parry Channel will open up later this summer.

[Edit – July 23rd]

The Canadian Ice Service has started providing daily sea ice charts of the “Approaches to Resolute”:

and “Queen Maud”:

Unfortunately NASA’s Worldview service is suffering problems at the moment, but if AMSR2 is to be believed then suddenly almost the entire southern route through the Northwest Passage is now navigable:

Fortunately in all the circumstances Sentinel 2 took a picture of the remaining high concentration ice in Franklin Strait yesterday:

It currently looks as though route 6 will be open early this year, perhaps even before the end of July?

[Edit – July 25th]

Worldview is still down, but thanks to Sentinel 2 here are more recent pictures of the choke points in Franklin Strait:

and James Ross Strait:

[Edit – July 28th]

It’s a very tight squeeze, and a puff of breeze might change the situation by tomorrow, but according to our habitual <= 6/10 concentration criterion I hereby declare route 6 through the Northwest Passage “open”!

[Edit – July 29th]

There must have been a bit of a breeze! Note the 8-9/10 concentration ice now blocking the James Ross Strait on the CIS chart for “”Queen Maud”:

Sentinel 2 seems to have skipped that location today, so instead here’s the “true colour” view from Aqua:

P.S. A much more detailed Sentinel 2 image has now arrived:

[Edit – August 2nd]

According to the CIS ice charts the Northwest Passage is currently still blocked south of the western entrance to Bellot Strait. Despite that the cruise ship National Geographic Resolution has made it through the Bellot and Franklin Straits and is now negotiating James Ross Strait:

Meanwhile Ocean Endeavour has entered Lancaster Sound.

[Edit – August 4th]

Royal Wagenborg’s bulk carrier Alaskaborg has rounded Point Barrow and is now following an icebreaker through the Beaufort Sea:

Further east the sea ice in Tasiujaq (Eclipse Sound) is breaking up around Pond Inlet:

[Edit – August 7th]

Franklin Strait is melting out now, but all of a sudden the eastern entrance to Bellot Strait is “closed” by a small area of 7-8/10 concentration ice:

P.S. Here’s how the area looks from Sentinel 2:

[Edit – August 8th]

A narrow channel of 1-3/10 ice along has opened up along the coast at the eastern entrance to Bellot Strait:

Here’s the view from on high, courtesy of Aqua/MODIS:

Do you suppose that the Northwest Passage will now remain “open” until much later this summer?

[Edit – August 9th]

The captain’s of several “pleasure craft” are evidently of the opinion that the vicinity of the Bellot Strait will be navigable by the time they get there:

Travelling west to east Terra Nova has almost reached the Coronation Gulf, and Tecla is anchored off Herschel Island.

Heading in the other direction Que Sera has passed Pond Inlet and is now in Navy Board Inlet. Meanwhile Caprivi is entering Lancaster Sound.

Nobody is heading for McClure Strait at the moment, but it’s looking increasingly likely that circumnavigating Banks Island will become possible in the not too distant future:

[Edit – August 11th]

Que Sera looks likely to be the first “pleasure craft” to negotiate Bellot Strait this year, and is currently heading south through Prince Regent Inlet:

The crew are writing a slightly delayed blog about the voyage. Yesterday’s article is entitled “In Lancaster Sound“. On reaching Pond Inlet on August 4th:

A change of crew. Maria and the artist Katharina leave the boat. Antoine replaces the crew. Paul, a student at the UNIGE, replaces Maria, and Alexis will be the professional mediaman for this passage of the NW. A few days later, Jessica and Okalik from the ‘Beyond Her Horizons’ team joined the crew.

On 9 August, the team was on the move and on the lookout for a potential exit to the west of Bylot Island to reach Lancaster Sound. An opportunity presented itself, as several boats followed the fisheries surveillance boat, which had opened up a route that was still impassable the day before. Que Sera was one of them.

Today, the boat is making good speed, with the small town of Cambridge Bay as its next target. The crew is now in the NW Passage, and conditions look ideal for what lies ahead.

[Edit – August 12th]

I’ve been waiting for the skies to clear over the Bellot Strait, so the satellites can get a good look. No such luck so far, but here is that latest CIS ice chart for the area:

Que Sera appears to be waiting for a good opportunity to take a closer look at the eastern entrance to the Strait:

[Edit – August 13th]

Sure enough, Que Sera emerged from the western entrance to Bellot Strait last night (UTC):

Further west Americaborg is approaching the Bering Strait and Albanyborg is emerging from the Amundsen Gulf:

National Geographic Resolution is not far behind Americaborg, en route to Nome.

[Edit – August 15th]

The sea ice in the heart of the Northwest Passage is melting away. There is now a <= 6/10 concentration route through Larsen Sound and Victoria Strait on the CIS ice charts:

However there is a bit of a breeze blowing in the area at the moment:

Que Sera is sheltering in Pasley Bay. Meanwhile Terra Nova is anchored in Cambridge Bay, and CCGS Henry Larsen is heading in that direction:

In the wake of the storm Tecla is about to round Cape Bathurst as CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier heads in the opposite direction:

It has only recently come to my attention that the Arctic Cowboys are attempting to kayak through the Northwest Passage again this year. They also appear to be heading for Pasley Bay:

The Canadian Ice Service aren’t covering the area yet, but “unofficially” a particularly adventurous yacht captain could probably now navigate out of McClure Strait into the Beaufort Sea:

[Edit – August 17th]

The southern route through the Northwest Passage is now wide open:

Que Sera and Terra Nova are both on the move again, heading for Gjoa Haven from opposite directions. CCGS Henry Larsen doesn’t have a lot to do at the moment:

Now I cannot help but wonder when (if?) the CIS will start daily coverage of the Parry Channel and McClure Strait! In the meantime here’s what AMSR2 sees:

and the latest weekly ice chart, dated August 14th:

Here too is a glimpse through the clouds of the remaining sea ice in Melville Sound:

[Edit – August 18th]

Admiral Bellingshausen has become the second “pleasure craft” to successfully make its way through the Bellot Strait this summer. Not forgetting the two kayaks of the Arctic Cowboys!

Integrity is on the move in Peel Sound as well.

[Edit – August 19th]

Skokica doesn’t appear to have functional AIS, but her tracking map reveals that she successfully made her way through Bellot Strait yesterday:

Taking a look at other “small vessels” with their own live tracking map, Seabelle is currently waiting out some strong winds in Arctic Bay:

Presumably for the same reason, Thindra remains in Tay Bay:

Meanwhile the Arctic Cowboys have reached King William Island, and seem intent on heading down the Victoria Strait:

[Edit – August 21st]

Magnus Zaremba is poised to emerge from the western entrance to Bellot Strait:

Meanwhile there is a long queue forming at the eastern entrance!

[Edit – August 22nd]

André Speet in Mae West has rounded Point Barrow on his single handed west to east voyage through the Northwest Passage. The cruise ship Roald Amundsen is not far behind:

Further east it’s all go around Bellot Strait. Terra Nova will shortly be emerging from the eastern entrance. Meanwhile Magnus Zaremba, Thindra and Seabelle have made it through heading west, with Sentijn, Caprivi and Walkabout waiting their turn.

[Edit – August 23rd]

Walkabout is the latest “pleasure craft” to make it through the Bellot Strait heading west, following in the wake of yachts heading through the now “wide open” Victoria Strait:

[Edit – August 25th]

According to the latest weekly CIS ice chart Route 1 through the Parry Channel and McClure Strait is now “open” to anyone willing to try ploughing through a large area of 5/10 concentration ice:

[Edit – August 26th]

Route 7 through Foxe Basin is now also “open”:

The Tenacious Arctic Cyclone has finally moved away from the Arctic Basin and is now blowing through the Coronation Gulf:

Several expeditions are sheltering in Cambridge Bay, including Admiral Bellinghausen, Magnus Zaremba, Seabelle, Sentijn, Thindra and the Arctic Cowboys:

Tecla has reached Fort Ross heading east. The rowers in Hermione are heading south towards Bellot Strait, while Aquijo and Hayat are at anchor:

Heading west, Ugly Betty is about to enter the Beaufort Sea, with Que Sera, Integrity and Caprivi in her wake:

[Edit – August 31st]

The latest weekly CIS ice chart shows that the northern route is now navigable without coming across anything worse than 2/10 concentration ice:

Heading from east to west, Ugly Betty and the bulk carrier Arneborg have both now rounded Point Barrow:

Meanwhile MS Roald Amundsen is currently heading east through Bellot Strait:

[Edit – September 2nd]

The Canadian Ice Service has started daily coverage of McClure Strait, presumably because CCGS Louis S. St. Laurent appears to be intent on taking Route 1 to the Arctic Ocean:

Ugly Betty has reached Nome, and has thus become the first “small vessel” to complete a full “circle to circle” voyage through the Northwest Passage in 2023.

[Edit – September 11th]

Thindra, Skokica and Caprivi have passed through the Bering Strait, and hence completed the full Northwest Passage:

The crew of Caprivi report that:

Unfortunately the weather for the next two days is more partial to motor boats but alas we do have a motor! Calm weather for our crossing of the Bering Strait wasn’t what we had pictured but after six days at sea, it’s not so bad.

At 2200 hrs we cross back over the Arctic Circle marking the official completion of the NWP. Almost two months in the Arctic and 3,460nm since we crossed the line in Baffin Bay, Greenland. We toast with a bottle of french wine over some good chowder.

The evening proves dark with brilliant bioluminescence as we continue upwind in calm seas.

[Edit – September 12th]

The clouds above the McClure Strait cleared today, to reveal:

[Edit – September 19th]

A glimpse through the clouds suggests that the McClure Strait is still “open” for (extremely!) adventurous pleasure craft:

[Edit – September 25th]

Numerous passenger vessels have cruised through the Northwest Passage this summer. However none have previously taken the route via the Byam Martin Channel, currently being followed by Ponant Cruises’ Le Commandant Charcot:

To be continued…