Sea passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans along the northern coast
of North America.
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As a modern trade route it has been only marginally useful, because of the
difficulties in navigating around the polar ice cap and the giant icebergs in
the Atlantic between Greenland and Baffin Island and in the Pacific in the
Bering Strait.
The U.S. and Canadian governments have tried to encourage international
commerce in the passage, noting how much it would shorten many international
shipping distances. However, the cost of strengthening ships against ice and
potentially high insurance rates for vessels used in Arctic service have been
factors inhibiting the development of the Northwest Passage as a trade
route.
