http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6995999.stm
The Northwest Passage is one of the most fabled sea routes in the world - a short cut from Europe to Asia through the high Arctic.Recent years have seen a marked shrinkage in its ice cover, but this year it was extreme, Esa says.
It says this made the passage "fully navigable" for the first time since monitoring began in 1978.
