Climate change has thawed Arctic enough for $300m gas tanker to travel at record speed through northern sea routeA Russian tanker has travelled through the northern sea route in record speed and without an icebreaker escort for the first time, highlighting how climate change is opening up the high Arctic. The tanker was built to take advantage of the diminishing Arctic sea ice and deliver gas from a new $27m facility on the Yamal Peninsula, the biggest Arctic LNG project so far which has been championed by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Murmansk's silver lining: Arctic city expects renaissance with ice melt Read moreOn its maiden voyage, the innovative tanker used its integral icebreaker to cross ice fields 1.2m thick, passing along the northern sea section of the route in the Russian Arctic in a record six-and-a-half days. The northern sea route between Siberia and the Pacific is still closed to conventional shipping for much of the year. “Even if we stopped greenhouse emissions tomorrow, the acceleration in the loss of Arctic ice is unlikely to be reversed,” he said.

Source: The Guardian August 24, 2017 15:13 UTC