> The British RRS Ernest Shackleton icebreaker is escorting the ship,
For the ice they claim doesn’t exist?
They will have a very, very small window of opportunity to make it through (between) the hundreds of island across canada’s north coast before the straits freeze up again. The winds and currents tend to blow the drifting arctic sea ice up against these canadian island - so if they don’t get through on this publicity stunt, they are stuck until next August if they go so far across that they cannot back out.
Sea ice is much higher than last year, but year-to-year, the sea ice around individual islands blows back and forth.