The heaviest arctic freeze in a decade has put the vacation goal of more than 100 people who tried to sail through the Northwest Passage on ice until at least next year.
The 360-foot luxury cruise ship Frontier Spirit, which set sail from Dutch Harbor in Alaska's Aleutian Islands on Aug. 18, turned around Sunday and headed back west after its captain determined the ice was too thick to continue."At this stage, we have to give up the transit of the historic Northwest Passage," Capt. Heinz Aye of Germany said by phone. "The ice took the decision against us."
Aye said the vessel was expected to reach Point Barrow, 250 miles to the west, in two to three days. From there it will travel on to Vancouver, British Columbia.
The passengers paid as much as $26,000 each for the trip and won't receive refunds. The Arctic water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean was first traversed from 1903 to 1906.