General Discussion

if there were a navigable route between Northern Europe and Asia it would be good for trade with Asia. Back then, getting from, say, Britain to China or India involved going around the tip of Africa, or for the more foolhardy, across the Atlantic, than around the tip of South America, then across the Pacific. If they could cut even a month off a six month or more one-way trip it would make trading trips more profitable. There were a lot of uncharted inlets along the Greenland and Canadian coasts, and if they could just find the right one...

There actually is a sea passage along the northern Canadian coast, but until recent decades it was iced over most of the year.