What did the explorers expect the northwest passage to provide

The explorers expected the northwest passage to provide a new trade route to East Asia.

Explanation:

The European explorers who were in search of a trade route that would open up directly in the Pacific Ocean and make East Asia easily accessible believed that the Arctic Archipelago hosted a passage which they called the northwest passage. In their belief, the northwest passage existed somewhere between the Canadian islands located in the north of mainland Canada. They believed that this passage was navigable and expected that they would find an open sea route that joined the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.

Though the search for the northwest passage had begun in the fifteenth century itself, no one could find a way to navigate through it until 1906 owing to the thick and long ice covers that existed between the islands. The first person to successfully navigate through the northwest passage was a Norwegian sailor named Roald Amundsen.