The Northeast Passage is the shipping route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, along the Arctic coasts of Norway and Russia. The western route through the islands of Canada is accordingly called
One of the pictures from Jonas Lied's and Nansen's journey to Siberia (2 August to 26 October 1913). Nansen is the tall man in the centre, number 2 from left hand is Loris-Melikov, number 5 partly concealed is Lied, number 10 is Vostrotin. Fridtjof Nansen started his trans-Siberian travel on a freighter from Oslo to the Yenisei. The journey went through parts of the Northeast Passage, which was to be opened as a shorter trading connection between Western Europe and the Far East. The photograph depicts the encounter of some of the ship's crew with officers from the Russian barges at the mouth of the Yenisei River.
Envisat ASAR mosaic of the Arctic Ocean (September 2007), showing the most direct route of the Northwest Passage open (yellow line) and the Northeast Passage partially opened (blue line). The dark grey colour represents the ice-free areas, while green represents areas with sea ice.