Sealift season off to bumpy start, but operators see smooth sailing ahead

NSSI crew members offload cargo at Kugaaruk in 2015, a community that is usually serviced by the Coast Guard. NSSI will service the community again in 2016. (PHOTO COURTESY OF DESGAGNES TRANSARCTIK)

This image, dated July 14, shows the ice build-up in Ungava Bay and south-eastern Hudson Bay. (IMAGE COURTESY OF THE CANADIAN ICE SERVICE)

The 2016 sealift season is up and running, but operators in the eastern Arctic said their deliveries have been slowed by heavy ice conditions in certain regions.

A handful of vessels are waiting in ice-choked Ungava Bay for help from a single Coast Guard icebreaker stationed in the area before they can access communities along Nunavik’s eastern coast.

There aren’t enough icebreakers available in Ungava Bay and southern Hudson Bay to meet the demands of commercial vessels, said Waguih Rayes, the general manager of Desgagnés Transarctik Inc., a managing shareholder of Nunavut Sealift and Supply Inc.

The company’s Anna Desgagnés vessel had a rough start to its season when it ran aground along the St. Lawrence river earlier this month. But the ship recovered and made it in to Kangirsuk July 13, with the help of an icebreaker.

“I was told that the Anna Desgagnés will not be able to leave Kangirsuk without an escort,” Rayes said. “She is to complete deliveries in other communities of the Ungava Bay, same as NEAS ships.”

“Other ships and tankers have serious delays in that area and everybody is trying to get [Coast Guard] assistance.”

In southern Hudson Bay, another Desgagnés vessel has been trying to access Kuujjuaraapik for a few days now, he added.

Suzanne Paquin, the chief executive officer at NEAS, says Coast Guard icebreakers should arrive in the Canadian Arctic earlier in the season to ensure they’re in place to assist with traffic.

“Now there are a bunch of us stuck in Ungava Bay awaiting escort,” Paquin said. “The charting is so limited [in the region], we just can’t go wherever we want.”

NEAS’ M/V Umiavut is currently sitting in Inukjuak, delayed on its arrival to its next destination, Kuujjuaraapik, due to ice conditions.

Both Rayes and Paquin acknowledge this year’s ice conditions are not nearly as thick as those that hampered the 2015 sealift delivery season, and are forecasted to shift and improve through the season.

“It already looks like it’s going to be a better season for us this year,” Rayes said.

NEAS’ first Iqaluit-bound sealift sailed into Frobisher Bay July 13 without incident although it faced a different weather-related challenge when thick fog prevented any offloading that day.

Offloading is expected to begin July 14.

Paquin said the company’s crew is asking residents to stay clear of the offloading area as cargo is being discharged. NEAS’ Iqaluit beach office is now open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

This year, Desgagnés and NSSI are operating six ships throughout Nunavik and Nunavut, including a direct delivery to Kugaaruk for the second year running.

Kugaaruk is located in an ice zone that has usually prevented commercial shipping companies from delivering goods directly.

Typically, carriers will bring cargo as far as Nanisivik, at which point the federal Coast Guard delivers it to Kugaaruk and Eureka — the other station commercial sealifts can’t access.

But in 2015, at the Government of Nunavut’s request, the M/V Camilla Desgagnés made it to the Kitikmeot community in late August with more than 5,000 cubic metres of cargo aboard.

In Nunavik this year, NEAS is offering sealift credits for the return transport of certain types of recycled product, including used oils, used anti-freeze, the containers those liquids come in as well as used filters.

Nunavimmiut can call NEAS for more details at 1-877-225-6327.