Hazen Strait

The Hazen Strait (77°00′N 110°30′W) is a natural waterway through the Queen Elisabeth Islands in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.^[1][2] It separates Mackenzie King Island in the Northwest Territories (to the north) from Melville Island's Cape George Richards on the Sabine Peninsula in Nunavut (to the south).^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]} All of the islands that Hazen Strait separates are uninhabited.^[9] Vesey Hamilton Island is located in the middle of Hazen Strait towards the Nunavut side.^[7][10] Hazen Strait is near to the Hecla and Griper Bay in Melville Island.^[7][11] As of 2000^[update], no land on any of the 3 islands bordering the Hazen Strait are Inuit owned, and none of the islands are inhabited permanently.^[12]

Hazen Strait is frozen over 9-10 months of the year, with some winter ice near the south coast of Mackenzie King Island remaining year-round per a 1962 survey.^[13][14] The strait is also fairly dense with ice, with the ice discharge towards the southeast being minimal.^[14] The area around the strait is thought to have 4 bbl of oil and 56 tcf of natural gas under it, and directly under the strait are the Whitefish and Roche Point natural gas fields.^[15][16]

The Hazen Strait VFR/VNC area is named after Hazen Strait.^[17] The Hazen marine area is located in the Western Arctic marine region, and covers around half of the Hazen Strait proper.^[18][19] The other half of the strait falls under the Ballantyne marine area.^[19]