Editing Norwegian Sea (section)

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[[File:HMS Sheffield frost.jpg|thumb|{{HMS|Sheffield|C24|6}} during the winter convoy through the Norwegian Sea to Russia in 1941]]
[[File:DN-SN-87-07042-Mike class submarine-1 Jan 1986.JPEG|thumb|Soviet nuclear submarine [[K-278 Komsomolets]], 1986]]

Until the 20th century, the coasts of the Norwegian Sea were sparsely populated and therefore shipping in the sea was mostly focused on fishing, whaling, and occasional coastal transportation. Since the late 19th century, the [[Hurtigruten|Norwegian Coastal Express]] sea line has been established, connecting the more densely populated south with the north of Norway by at least one trip a day. The importance of shipping in the Norwegian Sea also increased with the expansion of the Russian and Soviet navies in the Barents Sea and development of international routes to the Atlantic through the [[Baltic Sea]], [[Kattegat]], [[Skagerrak]], and [[North Sea]].

The Norwegian Sea is ice-free and provides a direct route from the Atlantic to the Russian ports in the Arctic ([[Murmansk]], [[Arkhangelsk]], and [[Kandalaksha]]), which are directly linked to central Russia. This route was extensively used for supplies during World War II – of 811 US ships, 720 reached Russian ports, bringing some 4 million tonnes of cargo that included about 5,000 tanks and 7,000 aircraft. The Allies lost 18 convoys and 89 merchant ships on this route.<ref name="Killham106">Edward L. Killham: ''The Nordic Way: A Path to Baltic Equilibrium'', Howells House, 1993 {{ISBN|0-929590-12-0}}, p. 106</ref> The major operations of the German Navy against the convoys included [[Convoy PQ 17|PQ 17]] in July 1942, the [[Battle of the Barents Sea]] in December 1942, and the [[Battle of the North Cape]] in December 1943 and were carried out around the border between the Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea, near the North Cape.<ref name="Killham106"/>

Navigation across the Norwegian Sea declined after World War II and intensified only in the 1960s–70s with the expansion of the [[Soviet Northern Fleet]], which was reflected in major joint naval exercises of the Soviet Northern Baltic fleets in the Norwegian Sea. The sea was the gateway for the Soviet Navy to the Atlantic Ocean and thus to the United States, and the major Soviet port of [[Murmansk]] was just behind the border of the Norwegian and Barents Sea.<ref name="Sokolsky83">Joel J. Sokolsky ''Seapower in the Nuclear Age: The United States Navy and NATO, 1949–80'' Taylor & Francis, 1991 {{ISBN|0-415-00806-9}}, pp. 83–87</ref> The countermeasures by the NATO countries resulted in a significant naval presence in the Norwegian Sea and intense cat-and-mouse games between Soviet and NATO aircraft, ships, and especially submarines.<ref name="Riste">Olav Riste. ''NATO's Northern Front Line in 1980s'' in: Olav Njølstad: ''The Last Decade of the Cold War: From Conflict Escalation to Conflict Transformation'', Routledge, 2004 {{ISBN|0-7146-8539-9}}, pp. 360–371</ref> A relic of the Cold War in the Norwegian Sea, the Soviet nuclear submarine [[K-278 Komsomolets]], sank in 1989 southwest of Bear Island, at the border of the Norwegian and Barents seas, with radioactive material onboard that poses potential danger to flora and fauna.<ref name="Livingston">Hugh D. Livingston: ''Marine Radioactivity'' Elsevier, 2004 {{ISBN|0-08-043714-1}}, p. 92</ref>

The Norwegian Sea is part of the [[Northern Sea Route]] for ships from European ports to Asia. The travel distance from [[Rotterdam]] to [[Tokyo]] is {{convert|21100|km|0|abbr=on}} via the [[Suez Canal]] and only {{convert|14100|km|0|abbr=on}} through the Norwegian Sea. Sea ice is a common problem in the Arctic seas, but ice-free conditions along the entire northern route were observed at the end of August 2008.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Seidler |first=Christoph |url=http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/natur/0,1518,574539,00.html |title=Northeast – and the Northwest Passage ice-free for the first time at the same time |magazine=[[Der Spiegel]] |date=August 27, 2008 |access-date=July 21, 2011}}</ref> Russia is planning to expand its offshore oil production in the Arctic, which should increase the traffic of tankers through the Norwegian Sea to markets in Europe and America; it is expected that the number of oil shipments through the northern Norwegian Sea will increase from 166 in 2002 to 615 in 2015.<ref>Leichenko, Robin M. & Karen L. O'Brien: ''Environmental Change and Globalization'' {{ISBN|0-19-517732-0}}, p. 99</ref>

[[File:Kart rorledning lite.gif|thumb|Map of the [[Langeled pipeline]]]]