by Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 01/97) - The sealift season is now in full swing, and nearing that time of the year when both communities who await them and the companies that deliver the goods get a little nervous.

Our ships are going to their ports on schedule," said John Perry, Canadian Coast Guard traffic officer for the Eastern Arctic sea lift.

"I know the Aivik is a little late but, for the moment, it's OK."

The coast guard co-ordinates the sealifts for Eastern, mid-arctic and High Arctic communities. Private companies handle the work in the west.

Last year was a memorable sealift season for Grise Fiord for all the wrong reasons.

A vessel from the Transport Desgagnes shipping company, which has a contract with Arctic Co-ops apart from the coast guard-supervised sealifts, had to turn back 80 kilometres short of the hamlet.

That was mid-October, well after the coast guard's Sept. 20 final dropoff date for mid-arctic and High Arctic ports. The same date applies to the South Baffin, except for Iqaluit, where the date is Oct. 7.

Coast guard-co-ordinated sea lifts have not missed a community for at least the last 20 years, said Perry.

"In most cases it's not getting to the port that's the problem, it's getting the barges to the beach," said Perry.

Ice prevents the barges from getting ashore to be unloaded.

The only hitch in the Eastern Arctic sealift season so far was a delay in the second of three visits to Iqaluit.

"The second was quite late and the third was going to be even later," said Perry. "It looked like it was going to end up there sometime around Oct. 18."

Rather than waiting for the Aivik -- the vessel slated to do all three deliveries -- to get back from its second voyage, which it began on Thursday, the coast guard had the shipping company use another vessel, the Mathilda, do the third.

Coast guard icebreakers play an important role in bringing the goods to Eastern Arctic ports.

They are used to bring barges to ports, such as Pelly Bay and Eureka, inaccessible to normal ships. Icebreakers are also used to deliver to smaller ports including Grise Fiord.

Rates for sealift deliveries is the same regardless of the tonnage ordered.

Iqaluit pays $251.50 per tonne or per 2.5 cubic metres, whichever is greater. The High Arctic rate is $384.09.

Increased tonnage and the coast guard's use of three-year contracts has steadily brought freight costs down.

Perry noted the per-tonne rate charged Iqaluit in 1990 was $455.85.