Northwest Territories News

The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency-Energy (DLA-Energy) has awarded Crowley Solutions a five-year, $15 million contract for fuels transportation and distribution services for the Canada North Warning System locations supporting the nations’ joint security efforts.Serving the Canadian arctic region, Crowley will provide ocean transportation of Aviation Turbine, Kerosene Type Jet A-1 w/FSII & CI to stations across the region, leveraging decades of experience in the Arctic. Services…

Four new 90-meter oil/deck cargo barges for Canada's Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) Marine Transportation Services (MTS) have been launched by Nanjing Jinling Shipyard, in Nanjing, China.The first barge MTS 3501 was launched on June 16, followed by barge MTS 3502 launched on June 22 and barges MTS 3503 and MTS 3504 launched on June 28.The barges will undergo final testing and touch-up work in preparation for the 400-kilometer tow down the Yangtse River to Shanghai where they will be loaded onto a semi-submersible heavy lift vessel and transported to Tuktoyaktuk…

On October 10, 2019 the steel cutting ceremony took place at Jiangsu Jinling Shipyard, Co. Ltd. in Yizheng, China (a subsidiary of the Nanjing Jinling Shipyard) for four oil/deck cargo barges being constructed for the Government of the Northwest Territories in Northern Canada.Steel blocks will be constructed at the Yizheng shipyard and then barged approx. 50 kilometers up the Yangtze River to Nanjing Jinling Shipyard for final assembly. Following steel cutting the construction is expected to take 9 months…

In 1978 Allied Shipyards of North Vancouver built a series of three big steel purse seiners that have become much-admired classics amongst the excellent fleets of British Columbia. In the years since the boats have changed owners and changed names. One, the Viking Star, has even shifted from being a dedicated purse seiner to a transport vessel for salmon farms for the Walcan Seafood plant on Quadra Island.The success of the design, of which more than a dozen were eventually  built…

On October 30, 2015, at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, the heads of eight agencies fulfilling the functions of Coast Guard of Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden, and the United States signed a Joint Statement formally establishing the Arctic Coast Guard Forum (ACGF). The ACGF is an independent, informal, operationally-driven organization. It is not bound by treaty, but will work in cooperation with the Arctic Council to foster safe, secure, and environmentally responsible maritime activity in the Arctic region.

Imperial Oil Ltd said on Friday it and partners Exxon Mobil Corp  and BP Plc need more time before they can drill an exploratory well in Canadian Arctic waters and are seeking an extension to their exploration license in the region. Pius Rolheiser, a spokesman for Imperial, said the license for the group's exploration parcel in the Beaufort Sea, a section of the Arctic Ocean, expires in 2020. He said the group is asking the Canadian government for a seven-year extension so it can complete the requirements of the regulatory process and have adequate time to make a decision on how, or when, it will drill a well in the region. "There's a significant amount of work between where we are today and where we would need to be if we were to drill a well by 2020," Rolheiser said.

FortisBC – a subsidiary of Fortis Inc. has officially started construction of its $400 million Tilbury LNG Facility expansion project today. The company is adding 1.1 million gigajoules of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to storage and 34,000 gigajoules per day of liquefaction capacity. FortisBC marked the occasion with a ground-breaking ceremony attended by The Honourable Christy Clark, Premier of British Columbia; Delta Mayor Lois Jackson; as well as Scott Hamilton, MLA North Delta; and Vicki Huntington, MLA South Delta. FortisBC Energy Inc. operates the only two LNG facilities in Western Canada. The existing Tilbury LNG Facility opened in 1971 and has safely operated in Delta, B.C. for the last 43 years.

Volvo Penta allows operators to save on fuel, cut emissions and most importantly – get the job done, in a wide array of conditions and mission sets. Volvo Penta of the Americas is delivering fuel efficiency, reducing emissions and raising performance as it powers U.S. and Canadian vessels with modern diesel engines, Jens Bering, product management head of the Virginia-based operation said last month. The company, a supplier of marine and industrial engines, is part of Volvo Group in Stockholm, Sweden.

Oil from a spill or oil well blowout in the Arctic waters of Canada's Beaufort Sea could easily become trapped in sea ice and potentially spread more than 1,000 kilometres to the west coast of Alaska, a World Wildlife Fund study showed on Friday. The WWF contracted RPS Applied Science Associates to model 22 different oil spill scenarios and map the spread of the oil, potential impact on the water and shoreline, and interaction with sea ice, wildlife and the surrounding ecology. Types of oil spills analyzed included shipping spills, shallow-water blowouts and deep-water blowouts. The BP Plc Macondo oil well rupture in 2010 that unleashed more than four million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico was a deep-water blowout.

The “World’s Best” Crystal Cruises is introducing a new expedition-style  voyage traversing the Arctic Ocean via the legendary Northwest Passage – one so mysterious and remote (500 miles north of the Arctic Circle), that explorers spent centuries seeking the passage, until it was first completed successfully by Roald Amundsen just over 100 years ago. Crystal will be the first luxury cruise line to ever navigate the route, maneuvering through 900 miles of majestic waterways lined with spectacular glaciers, towering fjords, and vast unspoiled landscapes away from mainstream civilization and tourism, north of mainland Canada. Beginning August 16, 2016 in Anchorage/Seward, Alaska, the award-winning Crystal Serenity will sail for 32 days from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean/New York City.

For Canada and the United States, the Beaufort basin offers unique opportunities for Alaska and Canada’s Arctic territories, says a research paper from Canada's Centre for International Government Innovation (CIGI). The Arctic is facing remarkable climatic and oceanic change that is triggering unprecedented opportunities and challenges for Arctic nations, as well as for countries that do not have Arctic territory but are eager to engage and invest in the region. The Northwest Territories’ (NWT’s) privileged resource endowment and geographic position on the Beaufort basin provide exceptional opportunities for the territory over the longer term in maritime resource development and destination and transpolar shipping as the Arctic ice cap melts.

One of the most famous sea battles in U.S. naval history took place in September 1813, not upon the sea, but on the waters of Lake Erie, between what is now Ohio and Ontario, Canada. In the War of 1812 against Great Britain, the Battle of Lake Erie was a crucial and decisive victory for America and itsNavy, and the flotilla led by 27-year old Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. That battle was recently commemorated with events on Lake Erie. And next year—the 200th anniversary—will be even bigger.

The National Energy Board (NEB or the Board) released filing requirements today for future applications to drill in the Canadian Arctic Offshore. The Filing Requirements, a companion document to The Past is Always Present, Review of Offshore Drilling in the Canadian Arctic, Preparing for the Future, follows several months of extensive consultation carried out across the North during the NEB’s Arctic Review. During the Arctic Review, many Northern residents stated that if drilling is to be authorized in the unique Arctic environment, it must be done right. The root cause of most offshore accidents is the lack of a broadly shared safety culture. In other words, people don’t do what they are supposed to do.

Resolve Marine Group, the Florida-based marine salvage, firefighting and emergency response company with worldwide operations, has been awarded the salvage of the 331-ft Clipper Adventurer cruise ship that ran aground on uncharted rocks near Nunavut in Canada's Northwest Passage on Friday, August 27. The Miami-based ship owner/operator International Shipping Partners awarded RESOLVE the Lloyds Open Forum salvage contract Wednesday. The P.I. Club for the vessel is Steamship Insurance Management Services, Ltd.

As a direct response to growing demands and the introduction of new products such as the GSA contracts with the U.S. government, Furuno U.S.A. has recently promoted four executives. The promotions Dean Kurutz has been promoted to marketing manager. For the past nine years, he held the position of National Sales Manager for Furuno USA. Matt Wood has been promoted to the position of Sales Manager. For the past year, Wood had managerial responsibilities for both the Southwest and Northwest Territories, as well as working on special projects involving the Commercial Fishing, Deep Sea and Government markets. In his new position, he will expand his managerial responsibilities to include the entire U.S. Eric Kunz has been promoted to Senior Product Manager.

Located in Nova Scotia is a third generation family boatbuilding company known as Rosborough Boats. The company was established in 1955 when James D. Rosborough began retrieving former Grand Banks fishing schooners from Newfoundland and rebuilding them into Sailing Yachts, Motor Sailors, and Charter vessels for the U.S. market. Sinc then, the company has gone through many decades of evolution and keeping up with market demands and operator demographics. Regrouping its focus from refurbishing fishing schooners, to designing and building character wooden sailing vessels from scratch to mostly traditional configurations of sails to square riggers…