Norm Poole
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Mar 17/03) - Two Nunavut firms have been awarded dry cargo sealift contracts for the Baffin and Kivalliq.

Servicing Iqaluit and 10 communities in the Kivalliq is Nunavut Sealink and Supply (NSSI).

Nunavut Eastern Arctic Shipping (NEAS) will carry cargo to 11 communities in Baffin.

Shipping schedules and cost were the primary considerations in effecting the new deals, said the GN.

The government will save about 30 per cent on freight charges into the Kivalliq, primarily by shipping cargo from Montreal rather than Churchill, said Peter Kattuk, minister of public works and services.

"I believe that Kivalliq communities will be quite satisfied with the service they will be receiving," said Kattuk.

"Shipping out of Montreal will be beneficial to every community in Nunavut."

The contracts are for three years and are estimated to be worth $4 million to $5 million per year.

They cover marine transport of some 17,000 tonnes of GN-purchased supplies -- everything from paper clips to computers and pickups -- and construction materials.

Freight rates to some northern Baffin communities will be slightly higher due to rising fuel and insurance costs, said the GN.

The rates to other Baffin communities will be about the same as last year.

The number of sailings into both regions is unchanged from 2002, said Kattuk.

All communities in Baffin will have one sailing except Cape Dorset, Kimmirut and Pangnirtung, which will have two each.

In the Kivalliq, Igloolik, Hall Beach and Repulse Bay will have one sailing each.

Arviat and Iqaluit will have three sailings and all other communities in the region will have one each.

Kattuk.

The GN will publish schedules and freight rates shortly.

People in Kivalliq communities shipping supplies on NSSI vessels can expect the same savings as the GN, said Ross Mrazek, deputy minister of public works and services.

"They will pay exactly the same rate that we do. That is part of our agreement with the shipping company."

The new system will not affect long-standing community relationships with Winnipeg suppliers, he stressed.

"Unless people in the communities choose to switch, they can continue to buy from the same Manitoba companies."

He noted that shipping freight by rail from Winnipeg to Montreal will be cheaper than to Churchill.

The GN buys most of its own supplies in Montreal for the lower freight costs.

Mrazek said he suspects many people in Kivalliq communities will follow suit, either this year or in 2004.

"That will be their choice."

The department plans an information meeting with Manitoba suppliers shortly to explain the new system, said Mrazek.

The change in carriers should not delay planned construction projects in the territory this year.

They include a new school in Rankin Inlet and a health centre in Baker Lake.

Both NEAS and NSSI have a long history in the North.

NSSI was formed three years ago by Arctic Co-operatives and Desgagnes Transarctik, a Quebec-based shipping company.

Desgagnes has operated in Nunavut since 1967. The firm operates five tankers and six freighters, ranging in size up to the 17,000 tonne capacity Anna Desgagnes.

"This is a new contract but we are definitely not new to Nunavut," said operations manager Wathe Rayes in Quebec City.

"Between NSSI and Desgagnes, we transported more than 110,000 cubic metres of freight to Nunavut last year."

The new Kivalliq contract will represent about 30 per cent of the firm's total tonnage into Nunavut this summer, he said.

Northern Transportation Company Ltd., will continue to transport both fuel and dry goods into the Kitikmeot via Hay River. NTCL recently closed its Churchill operations and did not submit a proposal to the GN for dry cargo sealift services for Baffin or Kivalliq.

The firm carried fuel and dry cargo into the Kivalliq for 27 years, and into Baffin for six years.