The Northwest Passage is becoming navigable for longer periods of the year. Ship traffic, however, still bears hazardous risks. A German-Canadian research team co-initiated by Fraunhofer wants to change that. In the project PASSAGES, it is conducting the preparatory work for a safe navigation through the icy waters.

As the polar ice caps are melting, the Northwest Passage is becoming more navigable -- its economic use is within reach. Even the federal government of Germany has the topic on the agenda. "For a country dependent on exports, such as Germany, shorter sea routes are of great importance," says Dr. Wolfgang Koch, Head of Sensor Data and Information Fusion at the Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics FKIE. "Compared to the route between East Asia and Europe via the Suez Canal, the route via the Northwest Passage is about 5,000 nautical miles shorter, which means enormous savings for ship owners," says Koch. This route has been too dangerous, though: There is no reliable information about it.

That is what Koch and a German-Canadian research team want to change. In the project PASSAGES (Protection and Advanced Surveillance System for the Artic: Green, Efficient, Secure), they are conducting the preparatory work for safe navigation through the icy waters. This is not an easy task, because the route is challenging not only due to the presence of a number of bays, islands, uncharted shoals and narrows, but also because of drift ice and extreme weather conditions. In addition other vessels sometimes do not record their positions or (in cases like those of illegal fishing vessels) record false positions. The system has to provide reliable information about all of that.