Rankin Inlet (Apr 24/06) - If it needed any more reason to return to the Kivalliq region, Northern Transportation Company Ltd. got it last week.

The Government of Nunavut awarded the shipping company a five-year contract to handle its freight coming in from Churchill, Man.

Supplies line the coast of Rankin Inlet as a sealift moves out of port. Northern Transportation Company Ltd., signed a five-year contract with the Government of Nunavut to move goods to the Kivalliq region from the port of Churchill. - NNSL file photo

NTCL had already announced its intentions to re-establish its shipping route to the Kivalliq. The company stopped serving the region in 2002 after deliveries of problematic fuel triggered a dispute.

Its first Kivalliq-bound resupply vessel of the season is currently in Halifax, where NTCL opened an office last year.

The ship will make its way to Montreal and Churchill before delivering to the Kivalliq communities. The remainder of the year's freight will come directly from Churchill.

NTCL, an Inuvialuit- and Inuit-owned venture, is hoping to capture additional commercial, industrial and individual business from the Churchill port, according to spokesperson Sunny Munroe.

The addition of NTCL to the Kivalliq region does not functionally make a big difference, said Brian Zawadski, business advisor for the Nunavut Development Corporation based Rankin Inlet.

While the sealift schedule may not change much from last year, Zawadski does think the five-year contract the company has is a positive. "It gives us some sense of stability," said Zawadski.

Sealift rates in Nunavut have also gone up eight per cent compared to last year to cover higher fuel costs.

The increase was not unexpected, said Jean Crawford, co-owner of Rankin-based Aurora Northern Contractors.

The company relies on the sealift to transport various construction materials.

Crawford said she may consider using the sealift out of Churchill if the price and timing of supplies was right. She said she was more familiar with supplies coming out of Manitoba.

"If you don't get your items, it can be a big catastrophe," she said.

The price of the contract between NTCL and the Nunavut government was unavailable at press time.

With more ships and barges out meeting transportation needs in the Kiv, the government expects the number of stops made by sealift vessels around the territory in 2006 to increase by 32 per cent from 2005.

Based in Hay River, NTCL also serves Nunavut's Kitikmeot region, the territory's southern-most community Sanikiluaq and many parts of the NWT.