Hanseatic Spirit, Expedition Northwest Passage ex Kangerlussuaq to Anchorage – 13 Aug 2021

28 Night Cruise sailing from Kangerlussuaq to Anchorage onboard Hanseatic Spirit.

Please note that your choosen cruise is conducted in German only. All printed matters are available in German. Nevertheless our crew is fluent in English.

Write your own story of exploration in the footsteps of great adventurers: the HANSEATIC spirit will set a course through the legendary Northwest Passage for the first time, as one of the few ships capable of this feat. On this pioneering cruise, the journey itself matters more than the destination – and you are one of the select group to experience incomparable moments from Greenland to Alaska.

Highlights of this cruise:

Kangerlussuaq, Greenland
Kangerlussuaq is a settlement in western Greenland located at the head of the fjord of the same name. It is Greenland’s main air transport hub and the site of Greenland’s largest commercial airport. Kangerlussuaq is surrounded by breathtaking scenery and wildlife. It is home to musk ox, reindeers, arctic foxes, falcons, eagles, ravens and some of the most power full northern lights during the winter. Kangerlussuaq has the easiest access to the inland ice of Greenland. You can easily get to the inland ice by car, bike, Icelandic horse or by foot. The distance from Kangerlussuaq to the inland ice is only 25 km.

Uummannaq, Greenland
Umanaq is a town in the Qaasuitsup municipality, in northwestern Greenland, 590km north of the Arctic Circle. The island is a hunting and fishing base with a canning factory and a marble quarry. Umanaq is home to Uummannaq Mountain, which rises to 1170m. It is noted for its remarkable coloring that changes dramatically with the time of the day.

Sisimiut, Greenland
Sisimiut, formerly Holsteinsborg, is a town in central-western Greenland, located on the coast of Davis Strait, approximately 320 km (200 mi) north of Nuuk. It is situated 40 km north of the Arctic Circle, making it the northern most town in Greenland. Tourism is becoming increasingly important, with several outfitter companies based in town. Year-round operations offered include dogsledding, heliskiing, guided hiking, mountaineering, kayaking, and boating. The tough, 160 km (99 mi) long Arctic Circle Race takes place each winter. The Sisimiut Museum is housed in beautiful old colonial buildings; the town’s exhibitions and art shops give visitors an insight into the area’s history and the peoples that have inhabited this remote settlement for thousands of years.

Baffin Island, Canada
Baffin Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada and the fifth largest island in the world. Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, is located on the southeastern coast. Baffin Island has both year-round and summer visitor wildlife. On land, examples of year-round wildlife are Barren-ground Caribou, polar bear, Arctic Fox, Arctic Hare, lemming and Arctic Wolf. Summer land visitors to Baffin Island all have wings and all come to nest. Baffin Island is one of the major nesting destinations from the Eastern and Mid-West flyways for many species of migrating birds. The largest summer visitor to Baffin Island is the Bowhead Whale.

Lancaster Sound, Canada
Lancaster Sound is a body of water in Qikiqtaaluk, Nunavut, Canada. It is located between Devon Island and Baffin Island, forming the eastern portion of the Northwest Passage. Ice cover, both land-fast ice and pack ice, is common for nine months of the year. A shore lead system ensures there are ice-free water areas. Many narwhal, beluga, bowhead whale (an endangered species), ringed, bearded and harp seals, walrus, polar bears, thick-billed murres, Black-legged Kittiwakes, northern fulmars, black guillemots, arctic terns, ivory gulls and snow geese all occupy the area.

Devon Island, Canada
Devon Island is claimed to be the largest uninhabited island on Earth, is located in Baffin Bay, Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is one of the larger members of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the second-largest of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Canada’s sixth largest island, and the 27th largest island in the world. The island supports significant concentrations of wildlife, including 26 species of seabirds and 11 species of marine mammals. At Dundas Harbour visitors will find the lonely remains of an RCMP station dating from the 1920s. There are also spotted walrus, polar bear, muskox and caribou here. At nearby Croker Bay, this scenic bay offers the opportunity to and marvel at icebergs, freshly calved from the glacier at the head of the bay.

Victoria Strait, Canada
Victoria Strait is a strait in northern Canada that lies in Nunavut off the mainland in the Arctic Ocean. It is between Victoria Island to the west and King William Island to the east. From the north the strait links the M’Clintock Channel and the Larsen Sound with the Queen Maud Gulf to the south. The strait is about 100 mi (160 km) long and anywhere from 50 to 80 mi (80 to 130 km) wide. Ships drawing up to 30 feet (9.1 m) have navigated the strait, but it is made very difficult by the ice. Most of the year the strait is covered with rough, heavy ice. Much of this is polar ice which has flowed down the McClintock Channel from the Viscount Melville Sound. Large-scale breakup of the ice in the strait begins by late July and continues in to late September when it begins to freeze again.

Herschel Island, Canada
Herschel Island is an island in the Beaufort Sea (part of the Arctic Ocean), which lies 5 km (3.1 mi) off the coast of the Yukon Territory in Canada. It is the site of a busy 19th century whaling station and the Yukon’s first territorial park. Amundsen spent a winter at nearby King’s Point before completing the first transit of the Northwest Passage. Nesting shorebirds and Arctic foxes are abundant on the surrounding tundra – and polar bears are often sighted offshore. Herschel Island stands directly in the path of the formidable Beaufort Gyre, bringing with it abundant marine mammals and ice.

Barrow, Alaska
Barrow is the largest city of the North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska and is located above the Arctic Circle. It is the 10th northernmost city in the world and is the northernmost city in the United States of America. An important historical site in the area is the Birnick archaeological site which contains 16 dwelling mounds of a culture believed to have existed from 500-900 AD. The archaeological findings are considered a key link between the prehistoric cultures of Alaska and Canada. Another interesting site is the Cape Smythe Whaling and Trading Station in nearby Browerville. Cape Smythe was built as a whaling station in 1893 and is the oldest frame building in the Arctic.

Point Hope, Alaska
Point Hope is a city in North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States. It is located near the tip of the Point Hope peninsula, a large gravel spit that forms the western-most extension of the northwest Alaska coast, 330 miles southwest of Barrow. Point Hope (Tikeraq) peninsula is one of the oldest continuously occupied Inupiat Eskimo areas in Alaska. Several Settlements have existed on the peninsula over the past 2,500 years, including Old and New Tigara, Ipiutak, Jabbertown, and present Point Hope. The Peninsula offers good access to marine mammals, and ice conditions allows easy boat launchings into open leads early in the spring whaling season. Throughout the community, drying racks laden with polar bear and caribou skins may be seen, presenting evidence of the village’s subsistence economy. Local crafts, including baleen baskets and whalebone masks, may be on display.

Chignik Island, Alaska
Chignik is a city in Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States. It is located about 260 miles southwest of Kodiak and 450 miles southwest of Anchorage. It is best known for its red salmon fishing and salmon cannery. The population more than triples during fish-harvesting season. Chignik Bay is a possible base for explorations of the Alaska Peninsula Wildlife Refuge, Mount Veniaminof Volcano, the forested land around Chignik Lake (eastern limit of forest on the peninsula), and coastal islands. The sheltered waters of Chignik Bay offer kayaking possibilities.

Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage is a city in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located northeast of the Alaska Peninsula, Kodiak Island, and Cook Inlet, due north of the Kenai Peninsula, northwest of Prince William Sound and Alaska Panhandle. Anchorage is set in the heart of great Alaska wilderness and offers sightseeing opportunities and also fishing, hiking, trekking, wildlife viewing, flight seeing, day cruises, kayaking, canoeing and scenic day trips. One of the most popular trips is to take the train up into Denali National Park and Mt. McKinley. Anchorage has world-class entertainment, sporting events, countless festivals and a jamming local music scene. Downtown streets are lined with galleries, specialty shops and outdoor displays that showcase the unique works of Alaska’s finest artists. Mild winter climate, snow-covered mountains and forests, an award-winning trail system, and miles of untracked snow create the ideal conditions for winter activities such as alpine and Nordic skiing, snowboarding, dog sledding, ice fishing, snowshoeing and more.