The Arctic's frozen waterways are opening up more quickly than northerners commonly believe, experts warn, suggesting the reduction in sea ice could bring major change for shipping and navigation in those waters.

The remarks were made this week at the 2030 North conference in Ottawa, where more than 200 delegates have gathered to discuss the future of the Arctic and work on a comprehensive northern strategy. The conference concludes on Thursday.

"For the Northwest Passage, it was open for an unprecedented three years in a row for navigation," Douglas Bancroft, director of the Canadian Ice Service, told delegates.

"Perhaps even more important, the deep-water route to the North was also navigable for the last two summers, for again, brief periods of time."

Three thick ice shelves broke off northern Ellesmere Island in a matter of weeks — an unprecedented event in modern times, Bancroft said.

The ice service is currently tracking a massive iceberg that calved off Greenland last summer, weighing almost one billion tonnes. Another huge chunk of ice is about to break off, and Bancroft said the service is watching for any possible effects of that on navigation.

"So is this going to be an aperiodic, very unusual event or something that's going to be happening more frequently on the East Coast? We don't know. We're just tracking them very carefully," Bancroft said.

Such major ice events means people navigating Arctic waterways need to know what they're doing, with proper ships, equipment and trained crews.

Oran Young, an international governance expert at the University of California, said pressure is growing in the North to put mandatory guidelines in place.

"We're going to need not just voluntary guidelines, but we're going to need a 'polar code' that's more regulatory," Young said.

Currently, large vessels travelling through Canada's Arctic waterways — including cruise, mining and supply ships — voluntarily register with a national vessel traffic system known as NORDREG.

Young also called for the establishment of regional fisheries management organizations, as well as an Arctic tour operators association. Setting up such groups would ensure standards are met to prevent oil spills and accidents, he said.