Aaron Thomas Fisk

Quand on pense à l’Arctique, surtout si on n’a jamais été dans cette région froide et lointaine, on imagine des animaux, comme des ours polaires, des narvals ou des phoques annelés, et les habitants de l’endroit. Il est peu probable que ce soient des cargos ou des paquebots qui nous viennent à l’esprit. Pourtant, les grands navires sont de plus en plus présents dans l’océan Arctique, car la fonte des glaces permet la navigation dans des régions polaires auparavant inaccessibles.

A cruise ship leaves Resolute Bay, Nunavut, in the summer of 2014. Credit: Silviya V. Ivanova When people who haven't been to the Arctic think of this remote and cold region, they may picture animals, such as polar bears, narwhal or ringed seals, and the people who live there. Rarely does this vision include modern cargo ships and ocean liners. Yet these large vessels are increasing their activity in the Arctic Ocean as declining sea ice opens previously inaccessible Arctic regions to shipping.

When people who haven’t been to the Arctic think of this remote and cold region, they may picture animals, such as polar bears, narwhal or ringed seals, and the people who live there. Rarely does this vision include modern cargo ships and ocean liners. Yet these large vessels are increasing their activity in the Arctic Ocean as declining sea ice opens previously inaccessible Arctic regions to shipping.