Beginning in 1497, explorers sought a route from Europe

Beginning in 1497, explorers sought a route from Europe to the Orient that would spare seafarers an arduous trip around Africa. The frozen north, however, proved far more difficult, and the five-century quest for the Northwest Passage ended mostly in failure. In the early twentieth century, Roald Amundsen succeeded, but only by taking a route south of Victoria Island in a trip lasting over two years. In the summer of 2007, the fabled passage saw enough ice melt to make navigation feasible. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center's nsidc.org/news/press/2007_seaiceminimum/20070810_index.html Arctic Sea Ice News Fall 2007, the passage was nearly ice-free for several weeks.