Canadian Coast Guard Arctic season kicks off

The CCGS Samuel Risley will sail to Greenland in July for its first trip to the Arctic. The vessel is pictured here breaking ice in Ontario waters, in March 2017.
(PHOTO SUBMITTED BY CANADIAN COAST GUARD)

If you’re getting antsy for sealift season, Nunavummiut, then you’ll be happy to know that icebreaking has already started in the Canadian Arctic.

The Canadian Coast Guard’s Arctic season is now up and running, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans said in a June 19 press release.

The season should run until the end of November and will see more icebreaking services this year, thanks to extra funding from the federal government’s $1.5-billion Oceans Protection Plan.

And one of the seven vessels sailing north this season will be doing so for the first time.

That’s the CCGS Samuel Risley, which in July will sail from Quebec City for the annual resupply of the Thule US Air Force base in Greenland.

The coast guard will let communities know when ships are breaking “fast ice,” so hunters can stay clear.

Also this summer, an inshore rescue station will open in Rankin Inlet, which will be run by Inuit youth.

The coast guard will also work with the popular Polar Bike Project to bring new bicycles to children in Ulukhaktok and Cape Dorset.

“We are eager to continue our important work in Arctic waters to help ensure the safety of both mariners and our oceans by working together with industry, Indigenous peoples and northern communities,” said Julie Gascon, assistant commissioner for the coast guard’s Central and Arctic region.

Besides icebreaking and sealift support, crews will work on marine training projects with Inuit communities. They will support science, research, training and military sea trials with the Department of National Defence, the Government of Nunavut and the Royal Canadian Navy, the release said.