Press Release
Last Update: October 14, 2011

Northern Sea Route Closing

Figure 1: National Ice Center analysis from October 14, 2011 showing ice reaching the northern coast of Russia in the East Siberian Sea.

(Click on the image above to view the full-sized 1259 x 847 image.)

October 14, 2011, Washington, DC — The National Ice Center (NIC) identified the closing of the Northern Sea Route through the Arctic. RADARSAT and ENVISAT imagery from 13-14 October, 2011 confirmed new ice forming along the northern coast line of Russia reaching out to the existing ice pack in the area of the East Siberian Sea.

The National Ice Center is a tri-agency operational center represented by the United States Navy (Department of Defense), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Department of Commerce), and the United States Coast Guard (Department of Homeland Security). The National Ice Center mission is to provide the highest quality strategic and tactical ice services tailored to meet the operational requirements of U.S. national interests and to provide specialized meteorological and oceanographic services to United States government agencies.

For more information, please contact:

National Ice Center
Naval Ice Center
Liaison Branch
Voice: (301) 817-3911
E-mail: LIAISON_WEB@natice.noaa.gov