Barge services to Tulita, Fort Good Hope and Norman Wells are expected to be delayed due to the Hay River wildfire evacuation.
Deputy premier and Infrastructure Minister Diane Archie gave an update to NNSL in an interview.
As of Aug. 31, the only schedules that have been disrupted by the wildfires and evacuations are those for Tulita, Norman Wells and Fort Good Hope.
“There are still eight barges at MTS’s Hay River terminal that are scheduled to deliver fuel and cargo to Tulita and Norman Wells,” said Archie. “There is also some remaining cargo for Fort Good Hope at the terminal. Due to the evacuation order in Hay River, all MTS staff have left the community and will not return until it is safe. When staff do return and MTS operations restart, we will ship the fuel and cargo to Tulita and Norman Wells by barge and truck Fort Good Hope’s remaining cargo up the Dempster Highway and then barge it to that community.”
She noted the plan to supply the Beaufort Delta communities has not been affected by the wildfires.
“Marine Transportation Services (MTS) has completed its community resupply to Lutselk’e and two resupply trips to Norman Wells and Tulita – with one more trip remaining this sailing season to both communities,” said Archie. “In July, due to the low water levels on the Mackenzie River, MTS made the decision to truck all cargo destined for Aklavik, Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour, Ulukhaktok, Kugluktuk and Fort Good Hope to Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk. This cargo trucked to Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk is being barged to the other six communities.
“Essential fuel for these communities has been delivered by tanker for offloading near Tuktoyaktuk and will be barged to these communities in the coming days. Water levels are not expected to impact these resupply efforts and they should be completed earlier than they were during the 2022 sailing season.”
Last year, barge service to Ulukhaktok and Paulatuk was delayed by several weeks due to flooding in Hay River and a cut fuel line. The barge was so late that service to Sachs Harbour was cancelled and essential supplies were flown in at the GNWT’s expense.