N3 Alliance gets sealift deal

IQALUIT — It’s official: the N3 Alliance has been awarded a two-year contract for the Nunavut government’s annual sealift.

With the departure of the Coast Guard as the principal shipping agent for Nunavut, the contract to ship more than 11,000 tonnes of supplies a year to the Baffin region was up for grabs.

The two-year deal is worth around $6 million to the N3 Alliance.

“The contract will provide the residents of the Eastern Arctic the same levels of services as provided by the Canadian Coast Guard administered sealift of 30 years; however, at a considerably lower cost than in previous years,” said Manitok Thompson, Nunavut’s minister of public works.

The N3 Alliance is a majority Nunavut-owned consortium between Nunavut Sealink and Supply Inc. and Nortran Inc. The Arctic Cooperatives Ltd. are majority owners of Nunavut Sealink and Supply.

The consortium was bidding against Nunavut Eastern Arctic Shipping, a joint venture between Nunavut Umiaq Corporation whose partners include three regional Inuit development corporations and Transport Nanuk Inc.