Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, August 1, 2007

RANKIN INLET - A new cargo ship will soon be spotted at ports of call across the Kivalliq region.

The M/V Rosaire A. Desgagnes is the latest acquisition of Desgagnes Transarctik Inc., which holds the Government of Nunavut's (GN) dry-cargo contract for the Kivalliq in partnership with Nunavut Sealink and Supply Inc. (NSSI).

The vessel is a Beluga F-240 Series with a capacity of about 20,000 cubic metres per voyage.

The ship will help the company deliver more than 2.1-million cubic feet of cargo over the three voyages she's intended to make a season.

Transarctik general manager Waguih Rayes says the vessel should serve each Kivalliq port at least once during the sealift season.

"By early August we'll have a better feel for who needs the vessel's capacity the most between the High Arctic and the Kivalliq," says Rayes.

"There may be times we'll need this ship to go to the High Arctic for various reasons, but she's scheduled, at this point, to be in the Kivalliq towards the end of September."

Rayes says the big benefit of the new ship to the Kivalliq is its adequate capacity for continued growth.

He says the vessel is equipped with two 120-ton cranes that can work in tandem to lift 240 tons.

"Our next vessel, which we should add in a year or two, will be equipped with even bigger capacity cranes.

"We're trying to be proactive in addressing the growing needs of the Kivalliq."

NSSI and Degagnes earned a three year GN contract in 2003.

They have since earned a five-year contract running from 2006 until 2010.

The GN holds two additional one-year options on the contract, which could keep it in place until 2012.

Rayes says the 2006 sealift went extremely well with 25,400 cubic metres (about 900,000 cubic feet) of cargo delivered, about 80 per cent of which originated in Montreal.

He says every run was completed as planned.

"We didn't have any significant delays, nor did we leave an ounce of cargo behind.

"Our contract with the GN only covers the exit point in Montreal, but we willingly do the stopovers in Churchill, Man.

"The decision to make the Churchill stops went well for us because people were receptive to our efforts."

Rayes says he was disappointed his company did not get a chance to service the Baker mining project this year, despite submitting a "very good" proposal.

He says the company will be ready when the call for the next proposal goes out.

"We never received any information as to why our proposal wasn't accepted.

"But, it was only a one-year contract, so we're looking forward to the call for the second contract."