U.S. Coast Guard photo courtesy of Coast Guard Cutter Healy
For the solo-sailor aboard the 36-foot steel-hulled sailing yacht Altan Girl, the Northwest Passage and the rumors of ice-free summers appears to have been deceptive advertising. The yacht became beset in sea ice approximately 40 miles northeast of Barrow, Alaska over the weekend.
Luckily, the U.S. Coast Guard’s polar icebreaker Healy was conducting a National Science Foundation-sponsored project nearby and came to the rescue. The ship took the yacht under tow and cut a 12 mile path through the ice to open water.
According to a statement by the Coast Guard, the sailor is not undeterred however, in his ambitions to complete the Northwest Passage this summer. “The mariner intends to sail to Barrow to resupply and await safer weather conditions before continuing his journey.”
The following image depicts the typical routes taken through the Northwest Passage.
Sea ice north of Canada and Alaska has been on the decline this summer, and will likely continue to retreat over the next month. The following image shows the current extent of ice:
Via the National Snow & Ice Data Center
In June, the sea ice extent was over 11.3 million square kilometers.
The North Slope Borough Search and Rescue in Barrow, Alaska relayed the call for assistance to Coast Guard 17th District watchstanders on Monday.
The European Commission is expected to propose a floating Russian oil price cap this week as part of a new draft sanctions package in an attempt to overcome opposition from some member states, four EU diplomats said.
(Bloomberg) — China disputed Germany’s accusation that one if its warships behaved dangerously toward a military aircraft in the Red Sea, an incident that Chancellor Friedrich Merz called “totally unacceptable.”...
Yemen's Houthis sank two cargo ships in the Red Sea this week, the first flare-up in seven months in the Iran-backed group's years-long campaign to choke global shipping in protest over the war in Gaza and the plight of the Palestinians.
July 10, 2025
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