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Sachs Harbour barge delayed Barge now expected to arrive by Sept. 8
Kassina Ryder
Northern News Services
Published Friday, August 30, 2013
IKAAHUK/SACHS HARBOUR
Ice conditions are to blame for the summer barge delay in Sachs Harbour, and the barge's delay has left the Ikaahuk Co-Op, Sachs Harbour’s only store, low on goods for months, said resident Raymond Kaslak.
Ice conditions in the Amundsen Gulf have delayed a supply barge from reaching Sachs Harbour for about a month. The barge is now expected to reach the community by Sept. 8. - photo courtesy of Canadian Ice Service
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“We ran out of flour, we ran out of lard, that was back in April or May,” he said.
Bread, milk and other food is also in short supply.
“We are making with reduced use of whatever is left,” he said. “If I make four or five sandwiches a day, I have to make do with only one to make it stretch.”
Toilet paper and other necessities have also become scarce, Kaslak said.
Bill Smith, vice president of logistics and business development for Northern Transportation Company Ltd., said the barge usually arrives in Sachs Harbour from Tuktoyaktuk by the second or third week of August.
“We’ve been fairly successful at it over the years,” Smith said.
But this year, ice conditions have been too treacherous to attempt the journey.
“This year has been a real anomaly with respect to ice,” Smith said. “If you look at the ice chart you will find there is a band of ice running right down through the Amundsen Gulf.”
The Canadian Ice Service, which monitors ice conditions throughout Canada, issued an ice warning for the Amundsen Gulf area by August 28.
The warning means the ice poses a substantial risk to ships, equipment and crews, information from the Canadian Ice Service stated.
Wind conditions were also unusual in the Amundsen Gulf and Coronation Gulf, stranding barges making their way through the waterways, Smith said.
“Last week, all our vessels in the North sat there for four days with wind conditions,” he said. “It’s been a bit of an anomaly wind-wise.”
Smith said weather and sea ice conditions over the past few years have been unusual, with fall weather occurring earlier in the year and sea ice conditions posing hazards for ships.
“Generally you get much more inclement weather in September than you do in August,” he said.
Meanwhile, the residents of Sach Harbour are attempting to find alternate routes to get their food and other resources. Kaslak said some he has heard of people ordering food from Inuvik, but shipping charges on an airplane are much higher than on a barge.
“They charge by kilogram or the volume,” he said. “So either way it’s three or four times higher than the barge.”
In an interview with News/North on August 28, Smith said the barge was going to try and leave Tuktoyaktuk and head to Sachs Harbour within the week.
“It’s getting prepared to sail in the next two or thee days for Sachs Harbour,” he said.
He said it is expected to reach Sachs Harbour by Sept. 6 or Sept. 8.
Kaklak said he knows he and other residents will be glad to see it arrive.
“It will probably be a long lineup the next day after the barge comes in,” he said.
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