Experience rowing alone across the Arctic

VTV.vn - Alone, Tamara Klink rowed 6,500 km from Greenland to Alaska, becoming the second woman in history to row across the North Pole.

(Photo: Tamara Klink)

In the frigid Arctic summer, Brazilian sailor Tamara Klink’s small boat, Saudade, quietly cut through the sparse sea ice that remained. The 6,500-kilometer journey, lasting nearly three months, took her from Greenland to Alaska – completing the journey that connected the two oceans, the Atlantic and the Pacific .

“Very few people have managed to conquer the Passage alone,” says Klink. “Not only because it is technically challenging, but because a few years ago it was almost impossible. The sea was frozen all summer.”

The once impenetrable wall of ice is now opening up new pathways. But it’s not all good news. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Arctic sea ice extent in the summer of 2025 was 13 percent lower than the 1981-2010 average, and the rate of ice loss has doubled in just the past two decades.

“I only encountered ice about 9 percent of the way through the trip. Much less than I expected,” she said. Klink’s voice was both proud and subdued. The extraordinary journey, for her, was “a triumph mixed with sadness.”

(Photo: Tamara Klink)

Born in 1997, Tamara Klink is the daughter of renowned Brazilian explorer Amyr Klink, the first person to row solo across the South Atlantic. Following in her father's footsteps, Tamara embarked on her first solo adventure in 2021, rowing from Norway to Brazil on a second-hand boat that "cost the same as a bicycle".

The fact that Klink was able to complete the trip on a personal sailboat is a clear sign of the severity of climate change, according to scientists . "Areas that were once covered by permafrost are now melting at alarming rates," said climate expert Mark Serreze of the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

Upon her return, she was welcomed as a symbol of courage and the spirit of exploration , but Tamara herself saw the journey as a reminder to humanity: "If I can cross the Arctic in a small boat, it is not because I am stronger than anyone, but because the Earth is weakening."

Source: https://vtv.vn/trai-nghiem-mot-minh-cheo-thuyen-qua-bac-cuc-100251029114430067.htm