Grain vessel awaits docking at the Port of Churchill. Photo Steve Selden
The Churchill shipping season is off to a late start this fall, nearly a month behind its regular schedule for shipping grain and wheat products from the port to various countries worldwide.
Late harvest, shallow inventory as well as shipping industry variables have created a created a time sensitive shipping schedule to attain the slightly lower average tonnage threshold according to Merv Tweed, OmniTRAX Canada president. OmniTRAX is the owner/operator of the Port of Churchill and they hope to reach 400,000 to 500,000 tonnes of grain by November and the end of the shipping season.
With this goal about 12 and 15 ships will make Churchill a port of call this year. Between now and the first week of November, the port will have to hustle to meet the quota projected. Sea ice will begin to clog passages at that time and ships will be unable to safely pass through Hudson Bay to reach Churchill.
Port of Churchill frozen and shut down for the season. Photo Steve Selden
“We’re seeing the volumes increase. The biggest challenge the grain sellers have is just getting the ship allocation,”stated Tweed. “No one seems to know why (the ships are late in arriving), other than that it was a late grain season.”
Lentils have made a return to the shipping docket as two ships are now scheduled for this season after a few years absence from the product ledger.
“We are hoping it will become a bigger opportunity as the market for lentils grows,” Tweed said. “It may become the specialty crop that we grow our business on just based on the amount of production coming out of northern Saskatchewan.”
Northern Saskatchewan is the prime supplier to the port of Wheat and grain products across the board with 70 per cent production from that region.
A few years ago, OmniTRAX announced plans to get into the crude oil shipping business, however that agenda has not materialized amid public outcry. Tweed indicated that oil transport is no longer being pursued. The surprise announcement that a $22 million Churchill Marine Observatory to study the detection, impact and mitigation of oil spills in the Arctic raises questions as to future possibilities of such commerce.
For now only grain products will leave the port and this season will be a condensed and frantic one to say the least!
Thomas Mangelsen, one of the premier wildlife photographers on the planet, journeyed to Churchill and the Hudson Bay region four years ago and captured this unbelievable footage of polar bear cubs and mother emerging from their den to play. The denning area located in the Wapusk National Parc is one of the most concentrated denning areas in the world. Still, the timing for capturing such incredible polar bear behavior is not always predictable. In fact days may go by before a photographer gets any action at all. Enjoy!
Magnificent photo by Alex De Vries – Magnifico of the changing tundra colors in Churchill with Fort Prince of Wales in the background. The Arctic summer is giving way to fall and within three weeks the 2015 polar bear season will begin in Churchill. Looking forward to reporting all the wild and amazing polar bear stories from Churchill this season!
A beautiful photo of the fall colors of Churchill! Alex De Vries Magnifico photo.
An informative video on polar bears in the Arctic and the safety precautions implemented to avoid and confront potential polar bear attacks and interactions in the north! Enjoy and comment on the film! Churchill is the focus of this video that shows the dynamic between people and polar bears in the north.
Biologists from the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U. S. Geological Survey teamed with Local residents from Kaktovik, a remote island in the Beaufort Sea, to rescue a polar bear ensnared in a lost fishing net. The 1,000 pound male polar bear was spotted in the sea struggling due to the netting wrapped around his body. Biologists flew close to the bear and shot him with a tranquilizer dart. Local fishermen, nearby in their boats, rushed in to buoy the bear to prevent him from drowning while sedated.
A polar bear that was trapped in a fishing net rests on shore after being freed. U S geological Survey photo.
Biologists worked feverishly to untangle the bear and he was released back into the wild after they deemed him injury free.
USGS asserts that climate change continues to affect polar bear habitats and they have established a Polar Bear Recovery Team to protect them. While individual rescues such as this aide in saving small numbers of polar bears, each one, especially females, can be crucial to the populations overall strength. close contact with sedated bears can also reveal scientific information to help evaluate the species.
Polar bear resting after sedation and removal of fishing net. U. S. geological Survey photo.
