The Transpolar Sea Route (TSR) is a future Arctic shipping route running from the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

across the center of the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...

. The route is also sometimes called Trans-Arctic Route. In contrast to the

Northeast Passage The Northeast Passage (abbreviated as NEP) is the Arctic shipping routes, shipping route between the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, Pacific Oceans, along the Arctic coasts of Norway and Russia. The western route through the islands o ...

(including the

Northern Sea Route The Northern Sea Route (NSR) (russian: Се́верный морско́й путь, ''Severnyy morskoy put'', shortened to Севморпуть, ''Sevmorput'') is a shipping route officially defined by Russian legislation as lying east of N ...

) and the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the ...

it largely avoids the territorial waters of Arctic states and lies in international high seas. The route is currently only navigable by heavy

icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

s. However, due to the increasing decline of Arctic sea ice extent, the route is slated to emerge as the predominant Arctic shipping route by 2030. The TSR is about long and offers significant distance savings between Europe and Asia. It is the shortest of the Arctic shipping routes. In contrast to the Northern Sea Route and the Northwest Passage, which are both coastal routes, the TSR is a mid-ocean route and passes close to the North Pole. Due to high seasonal variability of ice conditions throughout the entire Arctic basin, the TSR will not exist as one fixed shipping lane, but will follow a number of navigational routes. The TSR passes outside the exclusive economic zones of Arctic coastal states making it of special geopolitical importance to countries looking towards the Arctic as a future trade route. While a number of legal disagreement and uncertainties revolve around both the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea Route, the TSR lies outside the territorial jurisdiction of any state. The Chinese icebreaker ''Xue Long'' was one of the first major vessels to utilize the route during its 2012 journey through the Arctic Ocean. In 2019, the German company Bremenports announced it had entered into a contract to build the

Finnafjord Port The Finnafjord Port ( ) is a proposed deepwater port and industrial site in Iceland. Construction is expected to begin between 2021 and 2023 and will continue until at least 2040. Background In recent years, Trans-polar shipping along the No ...

in Iceland which would cater to trans-arctic shipping.

References

{{Polar exploration, state=collapsed Sea lanes Transport in the Arctic Arctic Ocean