Brazilian navigator Tamara Klink told AFP she encountered “very little” sea ice on her solo sail through the Northwest Passage -- a rare feat that would have been impossible without an icebreaker ship three decades ago. In September, the 28-year-old became the second woman and the first Latin American to complete the perilous Arctic journey from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, which has only become possible due to melting ice caused by climate change. “I only found ice on nine per cent of the way which is very little,” Klink told AFP after returning from the 6,500-kilometre (4,000-mile) voyage between Greenland and Alaska. “By talking to scientists, by talking to local people, especially hunters, Inuit hunters and Inuit fishermen, I understand that this very little amount of ice that I found is part of a general trend of having less and less sea ice every year.” According to the United Nations, global temperatures in 2024 were the hottest on record, surpassing 1.5C above pre-industrial levels for the first time. “This is part of a trend that will be very difficult to reverse if we don’t act with bold decisions, if we don’t make courageous choices in this decade,” she said, referring to the climate crisis. Next month, Brazil will host the 30th edition of annual UN global climate talks which began at a time when the majority of ships needed icebreaker assistance or specialized hulls to navigate the Northwest Passage. “With global warming, now the sea ice is melting during summertime... so smaller boats are able to pass and smaller crew are able to do this long trip,” said Klink. Tamara is the daughter of celebrated Brazilian explorer Amyr Klink, the first and only person to row solo across the South Atlantic Ocean. ‘The sea doesn’t care if I am female’ Klink said her father’s long absences while at sea first drew her to the water. “I was 12 years old when I asked my father to help me to start sailing alone and my father said that if I wanted to do that, he would help me with zero boats, with zero advice,” she said. “My father had all the answers and he had all the tools, but by telling me he would not help me, he gave me the right to make mistakes and to learn how to be who I became.” Klink’s first solo sailing adventure took her from Norway to Brazil in 2021 in a tiny boat she bought “for the price of a bicycle.” She then spent eight months of winter in Greenland, her boat stuck in the ice, between 2023 and 2024. In July, she began the two-month journey through the Northwest Passage. Klink is only the 14th person to make the solo voyage, according to her team. “When I’m at sea, in my boat, I know that my gender does not matter. The sea doesn’t care if I’m female or male, if I’m old or young, if I’m strong or weak, if I’m there or if I’m not there anymore.”
