Northwest Passage

Northwest Passage

A water route from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the Arctic Archipelago of northern Canada and along the northern coast of Alaska. Sought by navigators since the 16th century, the existence of such a route was proved in the early 19th century, but the passage was not traversed until the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen led an expedition across it in 1903 to 1906. The ice-breaking tanker Manhattan was the first commercial ship to cross the passage (1969), after the discovery of oil in northern Alaska.

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Northwest Passage

n

(Mathematics & Measurements / Navigation) the passage by sea from the Atlantic to the Pacific along the N coast of America: attempted for over 300 years by Europeans seeking a short route to the Far East, before being successfully navigated by Amundsen (1903-06)

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

Northwest Passage - a water route between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean along the northern coast of North America; Europeans since the 16th century had searched for a short route to the Far East before it was successfully traversed by Roald Amundsen (1903-1906)