SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - NorTerra Inc. started a search last week for a new chief executive office and a new president will take the helm of the troubled Northern Transportation Company Ltd. on Sept. 1.

Bill Duffy, vice-president of operations at McKeil Marine Ltd., a shipping company based in Hamilton, Ont., succeeds David Foster who was dismissed from the top job at NTCL earlier this year.

Carmen Loberg retired in June after 10 years as president and CEO of NorTerra, a holding company owned jointly by the Inuvialuit Development Corp. and Nunasi Corp. Chief operating officer Paul Leroux is currently running NorTerra.

Wayne Gordon, IDC board chairman, said the search for Loberg's replacement could take as long as a year.

"We want to make sure we get the right person," said Gordon.

Loberg joined NorTerra in 2000 after brokering the company's purchase of Canadian North, and guided NorTerra to one of the top 600 earning corporations in Canada.

NorTerra revenue topped $300 million in 2006 and Loberg predicted it would reach $400 million the next year. It reached that mark, but its subsidiaries, NTCL, Canadian North, Northern Industrial Sales, Braden Burry Expediting, and Weldco-Beales were hit hard by the recession, increased competition and operational issues.

"Like everybody else, I think we've had a pretty tough time," said Gordon. He declined to provide details, but at IDC's sister company Nunasi, revenue fell to $300 million last year from a high of $465 million in 2008 and it reported a $12.6 million loss.

NorTerra's fortunes have been tied to Northern resource development and Gordon said the board of directors is discussing where it might focus company's resources in future.

"It's still in progress, so I don't want to comment on it," he said. "It's our business to handle; it is a private company, owned by the Inuvialuit and the Inuit. We're trying to take care of business."

Loberg's management style was described by one source as "hard, hands-on," and Gordon said the recruiting committee would be looking for someone with the same traits.

In the year before he retired, Loberg fired Foster and Trevor Troake, NTCL's vice-president of finance, eliminated eight jobs in Hay River and moved the tug and barge company's head office back to Edmonton.

According to a biographical sketch posted on the McKeil Marine website, Duffy has 30 years of marine industry experience with major Canadian shipping companies, including 11 years shipboard and more than a decade in senior management positions.

"His practical knowledge of the day-to-day challenges of the marine industry is a real and valued asset," the website biography states.

Based in Hamilton, McKeil offers service on the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence River, eastern seaboard, Canadian Arctic, the U.S. Gulf, and the Caribbean. It transports dry and liquid bulk, project cargoes, heavy equipment, and general cargo.

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