IQALUIT
Mariners needing help in the Northwest Passage may find mayday calls go unanswered as the Canadian Coast Guard struggles with technology introduced since the closure of the Inuvik Marine Communications and Traffic Service in 2013. Iqaluit is now the only Marine Communications and Traffic Service (MCTS) centre in the Arctic.

If vessels travelling through the Northwest Passage encounter trouble, like this oil tanker did near Pangnirtung in 2010, they may not receive help due to glitches in the communications software sending messages to the Coast Guard in Iqaluit. - photo courtesy of David Kilabuk

"Realistically, someone could run aground or be taking on water, say, 'Mayday' or, 'We need help,' and my officers in Iqaluit might not be able to pick it up due to the equipment failure," said Chad Stroud, president of Unifor Local 2182, which represents marine communications and traffic officers across Canada.

The problem, Stroud says, happens when messages issued over the VHF radio hit two radio towers en route to Iqaluit. There is a delay in the radio transmission so great that if it hits a second tower, the message gets garbled beyond recognition by the time it arrives in Iqaluit.

"They went back to the drawing board after they realized there was a problem," he said.

The software company contracted by the government, Frequentus, was set to issue a software update to deal with the problem July 11. "That software update will be rigorously tested at Quebec City MCTS and Halifax MCTS for a period of two to four weeks. Which is great, but it's not fixing the problem in Iqaluit right now."

A notice issued July 6 alerted mariners to the problem.

"Mariners are advised that services provided from the remote controlled transmit and receive facilities located at Inuvik may be subject to intermittent operations," the message states. "Testing to resolve the situation is ongoing. Mariners should be aware that they may experience some delays in receiving replies from Iqaluit MCTS centre during the testing period."

A second notice dated July 7 notes that two broadcast channels at Inuvik are unavailable.

"It's right there in black and white that the system's not working," Stroud said. "It's intermittent, and any time we ever have something regards to that, intermittent to us means the chance and risk of not hearing mariners needing help. If they don't have that kind of service, it could be anything from they won't be able to receive the local weather and sea conditions, and won't be able to give Coast Guard radio a call, for example if they get into trouble and need help."

The problems are delaying the amalgamation of Marine Communications and Traffic Service sites across Canada. The federal government cut the number of sites back to 12 from 22 in 2012.

The Coast Guard did not respond to a request for confirmation of the problem by press time.

"The department used to be very forthcoming with the union and with the public, but right now due to the gag order the Conservatives are putting on it, they're not talking to us," Stroud said.

"The public needs to know what the problem is and when it's going to be fixed. With the transit in the Northwest Passage increasing, you have more and more vessels going through there. The Canadian public needs to be aware of the impact and safety to mariners and to the environment. Can you imagine if somebody runs aground and there's oil or anything like that that gets leaked out and we don't know about it right away? We could have a hell of a pollution problem up there."

As an alternative means of relaying a mayday signal, marine-quality satellite beacons are commonly used, but have their limitations because they can only transmit, and not receive.

Generally, for two-way communication, VHF is the most reliable, common and inexpensive means of relaying distress calls. It broadcasts not only to the Coast Guard, but to any vessel nearby listening to the same frequency, increasing the number of first responders.

Modern options like a SPOT messenger combine GPS and a one-click button that automatically issues a distress call but does not feature two-way communication.