The 2026 Northwest Passage season recorded 22 completed transits, the second-highest total after the record 24 in 2023, according to Finnish ice-engineering firm Railotech. The figure is up from 16 in 2025 and 18 in 2024. Seven of the transits were by commercial expedition cruise ships, four westbound and three eastbound.
Season snapshot
Nineteen commercial and naval vessels transited between 5 August and 19 October, with three making return voyages. Of the 13 westbound transits, four were cruise ships, eight were cargo vessels and one was naval. Of the nine eastbound, three were cruise ships, five were cargo vessels and one was a tanker. The statistics exclude private recreational vessels.
New entrants
Nine vessels completed their first full transit this season. Three combined the passage with cargo deliveries in the Canadian Arctic. Dutch operator Spliethoff completed its first full transits, and Scorpio Tankers recorded its second with STI Westminster, the season's only tanker. Canada's new Arctic patrol ship HMCS Robert Hampton Gray also sailed from Halifax to its Pacific Fleet home port in Esquimalt.
For expedition operators, the mix points to a passage increasingly shared with cargo and naval traffic, though cruise vessels still account for a significant share of transits.
Ice remains the constraint
Railotech said ice conditions stayed a decisive operational factor despite the higher traffic. Thick multi-year ice can drift into narrow channels and create choke points even when wider Arctic coverage is low. According to the US National Snow and Ice Data Center, significant ice remained along the southern route in early October, and heavy ice blocked M'Clure Strait at the western end of the northern deep-water route.
Last year's incidents show the stakes. The cargo vessel Thamesborg ran aground in Franklin Strait in September 2025 and was stranded for five weeks before the Estonian icebreaker Botnica and a local tug assisted. This year it completed two full transits, including the last commercial transit on 19 October. Tiberborg, which turned back in 2025 with mechanical problems, completed the passage.
Limited icebreaker support
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| The Finnish multipurpose icebreaker Nordica arrived in the port of St. John’s, Canada in September 2026. Photo courtesy of Finnish Embassy in Canada. |
All commercial transits were by ice-strengthened vessels operating largely independently, as icebreaker assistance is concentrated at the main choke points. The Canadian Coast Guard chartered the Finnish multipurpose icebreaker Nordica to boost capacity for 2026. It is expected back in Finland for the Baltic icebreaking season.
Looking ahead
The next international transits are expected in late July or early August 2027, which sets the planning window for operators building next season's departures.
Northern Sea Route
Railotech has not monitored the Northern Sea Route since 2022, but media reports indicate record transit activity in 2026, with growing Chinese and South Korean involvement and new Asia–Europe container services. Ice delayed the opening of the eastern section, and by the end of September confirmed transits had already exceeded the whole of 2025. Final statistics are expected later this year.
Source: Railotech, "The 2026 Northwest Passage Season in Review," 27 October 2026.
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