There is still thick sea-ice on the Northern Sea Route as the Russian oil carriers sail along the remote Arctic coasts.

Never before at this time of year have so many vessels been rescued out of the ice, says Russia's nuclear icebreaker operator Rosatom. It has been an Arctic odyssey for the ships and crews that in November got stuck in sea-ice on the remote Northern Sea Route.

Over the past years, ice conditions in late October and early November have allowed extensive shipping along the vast Russian Arctic coast. This year, however, large parts of the remote Arctic waters were already covered by sea ice by late October.

Following a nuclear-powered icebreaker, a Russian tanker has sailed through the frigid Northern Sea Route for the first time ever in February. “Won’t somebody think of the poor ice?”, climate-conscious commenters shouted.

Last week, a 908-foot Russian tanker carrying liquified natural gas passed south through the Russian side of the Bering Strait, with two more to follow. The ships are traversing the northern coast of Siberia, called the North Sea Route, in the middle of January with no icebreaker escort, an unprecedented event that may hint at the future of the region as climate change alters global commerce.

The £234 million ($300 million) Christophe de Margerie (pictured) completed the journey from Hammerfest in Norway to Boryeong in South Korea in just 19 days.