The World has become the largest passenger ship to transit the northwest passage, from Nome, Alaska, to Nuuk, Greenland, 17 August to 12 September 2012. 183 vessels have transited the passage to date, following that of the first transit by Roald Amundsen in 1903–1906. The itinerary included most of the usual stops and routes of previous transits of other vessels, with a major exception. There was no ice in the western part of the itinerary to Cambridge Bay, and open pack after that for the remainder of the route in Canada. Approaching Ilulissat, Greenland, ice in the form of bergs, bergy bits and growlers was encountered, a common feature of ice exiting the adjacent fjord. A few polar bears were sighted in Canada, and very few whales.