Derek Neary
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jun 18/99) - Six hundred tonnes of cargo.

That's what Capt. Greg Martell and his crew departed with aboard four barges on Friday. They were making the first trip of the year with Cooper Barging.

Company president Mike Cooper said the crew would make only one other stop, at Tulita, to drop some freight. Oil field supplies accounted for the majority of goods on board, but there were also vans full of groceries and other items, he said. Nothing as unusual as horses, which one of their barges brought into Fort Simpson some years ago. They've also hauled bison in cattle liners to help re-introduce them to the Fort Liard area.

The barging business is never consistent, though, Cooper noted. It often relies on resource work.

"This year doesn't look too bad to begin with," he said, adding that nine runs have been scheduled so far. The barging season generally runs from late May until late September. This year's first trip could have been made sooner, but a weight restriction on the road to Fort Simpson held up the transportation of heavy freight to the barge landing, Cooper noted.

The barges take 35 hours to reach Norman Wells with the current, but 80 hours against it on the return trip, he said. As long as the water levels are high enough -- and they have risen recently, he said -- the tugboat will have enough fuel to push the barges all the way there and back. The crew will reload the barges while in Norman Wells with any cargo that is to be shipped to Fort Simpson, he added.

Cooper Barging also operates in Fort Liard, where they have another two tugs, three barges and six employees, according to Cooper. The work in Liard consists primarily of oil field equipment and some logging work, he said.

Although the company now has its headquarters in Fort Nelson, its roots in Fort Simpson go back to 1942 when Ed Cooper created the business. He married Theresa (McGurran) Cooper. Mike Cooper took over the business from his father and perhaps Mike Cooper Jr. will assume the reigns one day as well. Cooper Jr. has spent the past three years learning the strings on the barges and at the shop in Fort Nelson, where the company also has trucking and construction firms.

Cooper Jr. said the days aboard the barges, where the crew members work six hours on/six hours off, are filled mostly with painting, cleaning and sleeping. The current is too strong for fishing while aboard the barges, but sometimes the crew just admire the scenery and wildlife while cruising along the river, he said. They have the option of catching a movie as well.

"It's just like home on the boat...full kitchen, TV, VCR," Cooper Jr. said.