Churchill loads for first Canadian customer

An Arctic supply ship is being loaded today at Churchill, Man., with the port’s first-ever shipment of Prairie grain destined for a Canadian buyer, the Canadian Wheat Board said today.

The Kathryn Spirit, owned by Kivalliq Marine Supply of Churchill, hauled mobile homes, snowmobiles and other goods north from Montreal to Churchill for communities in the Hudson Bay area. On this backhaul it will carry 12,500 tonnes of Western Red Spring wheat, bound for a miller at Halifax, the CWB said.

CWB CEO Greg Arason called the backhaul on the former Great Lakes freighter “a creative way to save farmers freight costs and maximize the use of Churchill.”

Churchill Gateway Development Corp. (CGDC) director Bill Drew noted there are usually five or six Arctic supply ships docking at the deep-water port during its short (July-November) shipping season. Those boats, he said, may be able to carry back grain or other cargo on an ongoing basis.

The Halifax-bound wheat shipment was “a co-operative effort by all players at the port,” he said, including the CWB, CGDC and OmniTrax, the U.S. firm that owns the port facilities and the Hudson Bay Railway across northern Manitoba to Churchill.

The CWB has long been the port’s primary user, running about 364,000 tonnes of wheat and durum per year on average through Churchill to overseas destinations in Europe, Africa and Latin America.

Arason reiterated that the port’s long-term viability is important to Prairie farmers, noting it makes particular economic sense for grain growers in northeastern Saskatchewan and northwestern Manitoba, who have the most direct rail access to the northern port.

The Manitoba government noted that Churchill had its second-earliest opening this year, on July 25, and that shipments in 2006 were up 20 per cent from 2004, to over 480,000 tonnes.