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Step 1
Picking a vessel. The Arctic ice prevents regular marine vessels from making successful voyages throughout most of the year. An icebreaker is a specially designed boat that navigates through ice-covered waters. The ship's hull and bow are designed to handle the force of the ship plowing through the ice-covered seas.
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Step 2
Talk to the locals. Area fishermen have a better understanding of the climate change, weather condition and size of the ice caps that will be encountered during your voyage. They will share unusual factors to be expected on the sea, and this information should make navigation easier for your Northwest Passage journey.
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Step 3
Get government nautical reports. The U.S. Polar Institute offers various reports that monitor the Arctic Ocean's ice cover and predicts the level of its melt. The Environment Canada Agency monitors all of the waterways leading into Canada. It will report any climate change that could reduce the ice caps and make your voyage more navigable.
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Step 4
Use the northern route. All ships beginning this journey will leave from Victoria, British Columbia, as they sail from west to east before taking the northern route of the Northwest Passage. It is often called the Parry Channel, a deep, direct path to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans that surrounds the Arctic Canadian archipelago. The northern route offers a faster, shorter path through deeper waters. The biggest concern is the ice caps are thicker and typically last longer into the summer months.
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Step 5
Or use the southern route. In order to avoid the deep waters of the northern route that offer pockets of freezing temperatures, many captains will turn south off the island of Prince of Wales. This route offers a lesser amount of thicker, older ice caps, but the shallow water will present other challenges for ships that choose this course.
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Step 6
Merge the routes. The final leg of the passage is where the north and south merge together, and often you will see the greater concentration of thick ice than anywhere else on your voyage. This is a direct result of increase older ice flow from the Beaufort Sea flowing into the Canadian Arctic archipelago.
