Mining boom sharpens Nunavut Sealink’s 'interest;

Nunavut Sealink and Supply Inc. is expanding its sealift services to four Kitikmeot communities this summer.

Cambridge Bay, Gjoa Haven, Kugluktuk and Taloyoak will be served by a ship that is to leave port in St. Catherine's, Que., just south of Montreal, in early August.

It will first travel to several High Arctic communities before making its way through part of the Northwest Passage, under Coast Guard escort, to the Kitikmeot.

The Kitikmeot's annual resupply has, until now, been offered exclusively through a barge service offered by the Northern Transportation Company Ltd. NTCL takes supplies from Hay River and transports them by barge up the Mackenzie River and along the Arctic coast.

But NSSI believes that shipping supplies from Montreal will prove to be cheaper than barge service, says Waguih Rayes, the general manager of Desgagnés Transarctik Inc., which co-owns NSSI.

The company's other partner is Arctic Co-operatives Ltd. – the owners of Co-op stores across Nunavut – which means Rayes at least doesn't need to worry about finding one big customer to sign up.

If this year's sealift to the Kitikmeot goes well, Rayes "absolutely" expects the service will be expanded to the smaller communities of the region in years to follow.

A big reason for NSSI's entry into the Kitikmeot is the region's pending mining boom.

Already, the company's volume of shipped goods has grown dramatically in recent years, mainly due to mining activity: in 2007, NNSL shipped more than 250,000 cubic metres, an 80 per cent increase from the previous year.

Much of that growth is driven by mines, which, Rayes says, are "popping up like mushrooms" across Nunavut and Nunavik, two regions served by his company.

And there is a concentration of potential mine sites clustered near the Kitikmeot's Bathurst Inlet. The major obstacle to these mines being developed is the absence of a deepwater port in the area.

But many believe it's simply a matter of time before these projects move forward, and when that happens, Rayes wants to be ready.

Shipping cargo through part of the Northwest Passage presents the obvious risk of sea ice, which has notably shrunk in recent years, but may still clog up parts of NSSI's route through Peel Sound and Franklin Strait.

To this end, Rayes is counting on his Coast Guard escort, which the ship is to meet up with at Resolute Bay.

During a hearing by the Senate standing committee on fisheries and oceans, held in Iqaluit last week, Rayes issued a warning that demand for escorts through ice from shipping companies, cruise lines and fishing outfits will soon outstrip the Coast Guard's ability to deliver.

He suggested that if Canada wants to bolster its claim to Arctic sovereignty, providing adequate Coast Guard services to industry may be a good place to start.