Breaking Ice for Arctic Oil : The Epic Voyage of the SS Manhattan Through the Northwest Passage

In 1969, An Icebreaking Tanker, The Ss Manhattan, Was Commissioned By Humble Oil To Transit The Northwest Passage In Order To Test The Logistical And Economic Feasibility Of An All-marine Transportation System For Alaska North Slope Crude Oil. Proposed As An Alternative To The Trans-alaska Pipeline, The Manhattan Made Two Voyages To The North American Arctic And Collected Volumes Of Scientific Data On Ice Conditions And The Behavior Of Ships In Ice. The Manhattan Ultimately Demonstrated The Impracticality Of Moving Crude Oil Using Icebreaking Ships. Breaking Ice For Arctic Oil Details This Historic Voyage, Establishing Its Significant Impact On The Future Of Marine Traffic And Resource Development In The Arctic And Setting The Stage For The Current Oil Crisis.--pub. Desc. Strike At Prudhoe Bay State No. 1 -- No Cream Puff -- Submarines, Blimps, Trains, And Ships -- Bienvenu Dans Ces Eaux. Welcome To Canadian Waters -- A Floating Laboratory -- In The Passage -- Through The Passage -- What Did The Manhattan Prove? -- Roundtrip -- Epilogue. Ross Coen. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 195-204) And Index. In 1969, an icebreaking tanker, the SS Manhattan, wascommissioned by Humble Oil to transit the Northwest Passage inorder to test the logistical and economic feasibility of anall-marine transportation system for Alaska North Slope crude oil.Proposed as an alternative to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, theManhattan made two voyages to the North American Arcticand collected volumes of scientific data on ice conditions and thebehavior of ships in ice. Although the Manhattansuccessfully navigated the Northwest Passage-closing afive-hundred-year chapter of Arctic exploration by becoming thefirst commercial vessel to do so-the expedition ultimatelydemonstrated the impracticality of moving crude oil usingicebreaking ships. Breaking Ice for Arctic Oil detailsthis historic voyage, establishing its significant impact on thefuture of marine traffic and resource development in the Arctic andsetting the stage for the current oil crisis In 1969, an icebreaking tanker, the SS Manhattan, was commissioned by Humble Oil to transit the Northwest Passage in order to test the logistical and economic feasibility of an all-marine transportation system for Alaska North Slope crude oil. Proposed as an alternative to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, the Manhattan made two voyages to the North American Arctic and collected volumes of scientific data on ice conditions and the behavior of ships in ice. Although the Manhattan successfully navigated the Northwest Passage—closing a five-hundred-year chapter of Arctic exploration by becoming the first commercial vessel to do so—the expedition ultimately demonstrated the impracticality of moving crude oil using icebreaking ships. Breaking Ice for Arctic Oil details this historic voyage, establishing its significant impact on the future of marine traffic and resource development in the Arctic and setting the stage for the current oil crisis.