the Northwest passage was navigated by a ship called the Manhattan in 1969. Has this been done since then?

The first transit of the Northwest Passage was made by Roald Amundsen and his crew of five. They were in a boat called Gjoa, they started their expedition on 16th June 1903 and finished in the summer of 1906 (exact date unknown). Amundsen is perhaps best known as being the first person to reach the south pole, an achievement he made some 20 years later.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/a/...

The next transit was that of a small ship called the St Roch, this was commanded by Sgt Henry Larsen of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The ship set sail in the summer of 1942 and completed the trip some 28 months later.

http://www.encyclopediecanadienne.ca/index.cfm?PgN...

Both crossings took some considerable time to complete and this was because both ships repeatedly became stuck in the ice. They spent the winter months trapped in the ice and at other times had to be ported (dragged) across the ice. In context, a tortoise could have completed the 1250km trip five times as fast (assuming it didn’t die in the cold).

Sgt Larsen returned in the St Roch a couple of years later and with the assistance of an ice-breaker, completed the journey in just 86 days and became the first person to traverse the Northwest Passage in a single season.

A fourth crossing prior to that of the SS Manhattan was made in 1957. Three US cutters – the Bramble, Spar and Storis – set out to make the journey. The Bramble and Spar were unable to complete the voyage leaving the Storis to continue by herself.

The ship you mentioned was the SS Manhattan and this made the journey between August and November 1969. Despite being the largest and most powerful commercial ship built in the US and having being specifically equipped to break through the ice, she got stuck on several occasions and had to be rescued by the ice-breakers Staten Island and John A McDonald.

http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF6/639.htm...

Although considerably faster then the St Roch, and faster than a tortoise, a human could have walked the route 10 times over in the time it took the Manhattan to complete the journey.

On 14th September 2007 satellite images indicated that the Northwest Passage was fully navigable and ice free for the first time.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/vi...

Since then there have been numerous crossings and in 2008 the Passage opened up to commercial shipping, the MV Camilla Desgagnes being the first commercial ship to sail through the Passage in September of that year. Ice-breakers were on stand-by to assist but weren’t needed. One member of the crew reported that “that there was no ice whatsoever”.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2008/11/28/nw...

Not only has the Northwest Passage become fully navigable but the Northern Sea Route (Northwest Passage) around the top of Russia has also opened for business. With the retreat of the ice it has been possible since 2002 to undertake the voyage with the assistance of ice-breakers.

In 2009 two ice strengthened vessels belonging to the Beluga Group - the Fraternity and Foresight - made the crossing without needing to call on the services of the accompanying Russian ice-breaker.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Sea_Route

It may have been possible to traverse the Northwest Passage during the time of the Vikings. Back then the Gulf Stream had a more westerly course than it does now and this brought warmer waters to the eastern North Atlantic. It’s probable that there would have been less ice in Atlantic side of the route.

The Vikings kept very detailed sagas of their voyages and there is no record of them having traversed the Northwest Passage, it seems highly unlikely that they did make the voyage even if it had been possible.

"I seem to remember" this question being asked & answered many times before, is it that deniers just ignore factual information or that they just won't listen to anything that goes against their evidence free arguments.

The point deniers seem to (intentionally) miss is the time and effort it took to get through, as Trevor says Amundsen took three years (he spent 2 winters frozen in harbor). The Manhattan was both ice strengthened and accompanied by an ice breaker (hardly an ordinary ship sailing through on it's own). Ice breakers can get through the Arctic it's just takes time and a lot of fuel, so much fuel in fact that's it's cheaper to sail through the Panama Canal or right round South America, taking less fuel and time to make the trip.

Amongst many other fictional claims of the NWP being open during WWII deniers sometimes also mention the RCMP officer Henry Larsen who made the trip in 1940 in the St Roch what they regularly fail to add is the time the voyage took 1940-1942 again hardly sail straight through.

From the 70s onward a number of vessels have picked their way through, but in the last couple of years it has been open enough in summer for a ship to sail straight through. As with any trip through sea ice there is still a risk storms/weather or currents may move the ice pack and block your way, but as the ice continues to shrink even that is becoming less of a risk. But to be a practical trip it needs to done in the few weeks it would take to sail straight through not the 6 months to 2 years some of these previous voyages took.

The MS Explorer used to be an ice bolstered send as the primary man mentioned, such ships are in a position to damage ice as much as three ft thick, it could have little problem traversing the north west passage in summer time. Adding any ice bolstered send to the speculation you're looking to advocate is simply foolish.

Last year two cruise ships passed each other in the Northwest Passage carrying paying passengers.

The Manhattan had to be rescued by a Canadian Icebreaker. The Inuit staked their Territorial Claim on behalf of Canada and steadfastly refused (to the best of their ability) to allow the Manhattan to pass through Canadian water.

There is and will continue to be much debate before the NW Passage becomes a thoroughfare for shipping!

EDIT: @ Trevor...well done and informative!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Manhattan_%281962%...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

SS_Manhattan_%281962%29

"The SS Manhattan was an oil tanker constructed at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, MA that became the first commercial ship to cross the Northwest Passage in 1969. For this voyage, she was refitted with an icebreaker bow. Registered in the United States at the time, she was the largest U.S. merchant vessel as well as the biggest icebreaker in history."

The biggest icebreaker in history, not just "a ship". The article and the article on the northwest passage explain why this did not amount to "opening it for shipping".

Yes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Passage

and

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMYTC13J6F_index_0.html

I dont think so becuz i remember in history class once the northwest passage waz not real.....then a gain i cud be wrong:D