Shipping companies eye NW Passage

BREMEN, Germany, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Shipping companies want to send ships through the Arctic's Northwest and Northeast Passages now that they're free from ice, a German newspaper said.

The Northeast Passage from the Russian island Novaya Zamlya through the Bering Strait could cut the trip from Hamburg, Germany, to Yokohama, Japan, by 40 percent, Spiegel Online reported Thursday. Data from the NASA satellite Aqua show the passage is for the time being free of dangerous ice floes that normally block the route, the newspaper said. Russian authorities, however, have not issued permits allowing shipping companies to take advantage of the Arctic shortcut.

The Northwest Passage is also free of ice, the National Snow and Ice Data Center said.

While there are usually only 20 to 30 days each year in which the Northeast Passage is less than 50 percent covered by ice, the 2005 Arctic Climate Assessment estimates that there will be up to 120 largely ice-free days by the end of the century.