July 28, 2000
VALERIE G. CONNELL
Nunatsiaq News
IQALUIT — The sealift has begun in the eastern Arctic, with the first ships, Umiavut, Anna Desgagnes, Arctic Viking, Lady Franklin and Aivik carrying sealift cargo to Iqaluit and other Nunavut and Nunavik communities.
"It [the arrival of the first sealift ships] means the ice is finally out of the harbour and summer is officially here," said Daryl Richmond of Tittaq Office Supplies.
The last ship in, Arctic Viking, unloaded 1400 metric tonnes of cargo, including constructions materials, 23 vehicles, food, and just under 200 pallets of liquor, said Gordon Williams, beach manager for the Coast Guard.
Sealift orders are now being delivered around Iqaluit.
"[We] have piles and piles and piles of it," said Barbara Ann Sharp who works in the stores department at the Baffin Regional Hospital.
Sharp says her department depends heavily on the sealift for cutting costs, since the difference in cost between air cargo shipments and the sealift is significant.
Carolyn Mallory says her family uses the sealift because of its substantial savings.
"It’s hard to tell the savings on a $4,500 order, but looking at prices, it’s less. One box of laundry detergent is four boxes on the sealift, dog food the same," she said.
Mallory said it’s hard to judge what to order for a family of five.
"[We] ran out of Kraft Dinner in January, but have a case of kidney beans left," she said. "The problem with sealift is it takes over your whole house."
Christine Ammaq said she doesn’t use the sealift because it’s expensive.
"You have to get thousands of dollars to buy and [there’s] not enough resources about how to get sealift."
Nunatsiaq News talked to several people who said they didn’t know how to get information on using the sealift, and others who said it isn’t worth it for small families or single people.
Tittaq Office Products uses the sealift to cut costs on heavy items such as cartons of paper.
"We have 18 crates all in the store," said Jeannette Bursey, who works at Tittaq.
"There were frustrations," Richmond said. "They kept putting the date of departure back because of ice in the harbour, so we had to make sure [we] didn’t run out [of merchandise]."
One of the first sealift ships to arrive in Iqaluit was the 370-foot vessel, Umiavut, carrying 4,500 tonnes of cargo.
Although it’s the first year of operation for the Umiavut, a $14 million vessel owned by Nunavut Eastern Arctic Shipping (NEAS), it’s captain, Barry Acorn, is a 24-year veteran who heads a 23-man crew.
The crew includes a beach master, who is responsible for the management of cargo on shore, and the only crew member to come ashore in Iqaluit.
Head cook Albini Joncas said he is enjoying his first sealift trip and that he uses his $20,000 budget to feed the ship’s crew well for the four-month sealift season.
"Onion steak for dinner, and tonight macaroni," he said.
After unloading in Iqaluit, the Umiavut will travel to Kimmirut and communities in Nunavik and north Baffin before returning to re-load in Montreal. The vessel will make three to four trips to the Arctic throughout the sealift season.
The Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers DesGroseilliers, Pierre Radisson and Terry Fox have been escorting sealift vessels and fuel tankers into Iqaluit, since there was still ice in Frobisher Bay as of last Sunday, Beland said.
He said the Coast Guard acts in a "harbour master role" for the sealift. In spring, the Coast Guard cleans the beach before the sealift begins to prevent damage to ships, Beland said.
There are two kinds of sealift vessels, Beland said, one type has a "flat bottom" construction that allows vehicles to rest on the beach after the tide goes out.
A ship of "round bottom" construction will remain anchored further out, while barges transport its cargo to shore at high tide.
Beland said two barges can unload on the beach at the same time, and that most companies have their own shore crews.
Coast Guard personnel, Renel Rodrigue and Randy Holland said they work on the Iqaluit beach to keep it in good condition, keeping rocks away and filling bad holes so incoming ships don’t get damaged.
"You have to do it daily," Holland said.
The next ship is expected to arrive in Iqaluit Aug. 6.
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