Western Mariner – August 2019

52 WESTERNMARINER.COM AUGUST 2019 CANADA’S COMMERCIAL MARINE MAGAZINE

“The elevator is a public use terminal,” explained Al-

Katib, “AGT will be one of the shippers.”

Al-Katib expects grain shipments to begin with the new

crop year in August and continue through September and

October. Projected tonnage for this season is not available.

However, he expects a much bigger year in 2020.

Arctic shipping: Meeting the challenge

Prior to the start of the 2019 shipping season, the Arctic

Shipping Challenges conference hosted by the Nautical

Institute of BC in Victoria on May 23 and 24 provided an

excellent overview of Arctic shipping, both for 2019 and in

the future.

Fednav had a strong presence at the conference. Fednav

contracts with Teck for ships for zinc/lead exports from

the Red Dog Mine north of Bering Strait and the Arctic

Circle in Alaska. Fednav also provides the same service for

the Baffinland iron ore mine at the Milne Inlet terminal on

Baffin Island.

Courtney Legault, Fednav’s assistant manager of

Arctic projects, provided an overview of Fednav’s three

highly specialized icebreaking bulk carriers: umiak I

(2006, Universal Shipbuilding Co., Japan), which loads

nickel ore from Vale’s Voisey’s Bay mine at Edward’s

Cove, Labrador; arctic (1978, Port Weller Dry Docks,

St. Catherines, Ontario), which loads from Glencore’s

Raglan mine at Deception Bay, Quebec on Hudson

Strait; and nunavik (2014, Japan Marine United), which

loads from the Canadian Royalties operation also at

Deception Bay.

The ships operate in the winter, without icebreaker

assistance. The oldest, arctic, is slightly longer than the

other two but has less carrying capacity and less power.

A Hudsons Bay Railway locomotive in front of the grain elevator at Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson’s Bay. The port was cut off

when flooding severely damaged the railway line in May 2017. It reopened this year, with the railway and port under new own-

ership by Arctic Gateway Group.

Arctic Gateway crews faced formidable challenges restoring

the rail link to Churchill.

PHOTO COURTESY ARCTIC GATEWAY GROUP

PHOTO COURTESY ARCTIC GATEWAY GROUP

P: 250-624-9858 / F: 250-624-5473 / [email protected] / http://www.wainwrightmarine.com

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