Norwegian Sea

Northeast of Shetland, the Norwegian Sea opens between the islands and the coast of Norway. Atlantic water passes northward through the Faroe–Shetland channel, while deeper currents return toward the ocean. The same broad northern seas carried Norse settlers and sailors between Scandinavia and the islands to the west. Shetland's position made it a landfall on routes extending toward the Faroes and Iceland, across waters far from sheltered harbors.