Russia's Northern Sea Route, hugging the Siberian coast, cuts the normal distance between Europe and Asia by more than a third.

ECONOMIST: Global warming

Sailing along the coast of Siberia by the north-east passage, or Northern Sea Route (NSR), as Russians and mariners call it, cuts the distance between western Europe and east Asia by roughly a third.

ECONOMIST: The melting north | The

The Arctic's importance has gained extra strategic and economic significance as melting ice in the polar region strengthens the feasibility of nations to use the Northern Sea Route (NSR) across the top of Russia and the Northwest Passage through Canada's Arctic archipelago.

CNN: China eyes Arctic options in energy, transport

So too is the hope that the North-East Passage above Russia, also known as the Northern Sea Route (NSR), as well as the North-West Passage from the Atlantic over the top of North America, will become navigable for several months each summer.

ECONOMIST: Banyan