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CASR
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- Canadian Defence Policy, Foreign
Policy, & Canada-US Relations - |
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In Detail
North West Passage
Deep Water Port
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Arctic Sovereignty Canadian Forces Northern Presence
Baffin Island August 2007
Canada Announces Deepwater Port at Nanisivik
on Baffin Island
& Army Base at Resolute
Key Points on NorthWest Passage
Canadian Initiatives in the Race to Assert Sovereignty
and Control over Northern Sea Lanes

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announces a new deepwater port
and a northern army training base
On 10 August 2007, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that the Canadian Forces would develop
a new deepwater port at Nanisivik, on Baffin Island
and a northern army training base at Resolute.
Both of these bases are located at strategic points along the Northwest Passage. This is a
sea lane that Canada claims as an interior waterway, but which
other nations the US, Japan, and the members of the EU
regard as an international sea route available for use
by any sea-going nation.
The economic implications of this dispute are obvious.
Global warming has resulted in this water
way becoming navigable for longer
and longer periods each year.
Instead of travelling through
the Panama or Suez Canals, ships could travel along the
edge of the Arctic Ocean. The time, cost,
and distance of sailing from Europe to Asia would
be significantly reduced. If Canada can make
the case that the Northwest Passage is an internal waterway,
all ships travelling this route would
be required to pay transit fees similar to those paid
for passage through Panama and Suez Canals
currently those fees fall into the range of
$ 2 to 4 billion
per year.
Choice of Nanisivik based on existing facilities
left over from lead and zinc mining operations
Nanisivik was the site of a large mining operation with a huge dock for loading ore. The mining infrastructure
(including the ore sheds, visible at left, loading belts, gantry, etc.) has now been removed as part of site
clean-up. [1] This leaves DND with a blank canvas in Nanisivik, as it were. A small town
site had been prepared for mine workers during operations. Now, the old worker housing, cafeteria, and
community centre are also gone. What the federal government inherits in Nanisivik is an existing
deep-water port with an airfield.
Nanisiviks Existing Terminal and Iqaluits Planned Port Compared
How Deep is Deep for Ports
Iqaluit was seen as leading contender for a new deep-water port. [2] Critics noted that the Nunavut
capital is not directly on the Northwest Passage. True but Nanisivik has another advantage. A ship
tied up at the Nanisivik dock has 50 feet [20 m] of water portside. The planned port at Iqaluit could only
match this depth by dredging the surrounding mudflats. As a military base, Nanisivik does not need to be close
to a major population centre but it does benefit from existing infrastructure potable water lines
running in utilidors, large fuel storage tanks (visible at right), etc. Despite the closure of the mine, these
systems remain in use today replenishing icebreakers, the vital sealift (coastal re-supply)
ships, and ice-hardened cruiseliners.
Supplying Naval Operations in the High Arctic Logistical Difficulties and a New Pressure on
Locals
Existing facilities at Nanisivik will be able to refuel and reprovision the planned CF fleet of 6-to-8
Arctic/ Offshore Patrol Ships (A/OPS) intended for this new
base. And the current experience shows that there will be no insurmountable technical hurdles faced
with shipping fuel or other supplies to Nanisivik. How the supplies will be sent north is another matter. Northern
communities rely on semi-annual sealifts of fuel and goods (everything else must be brought in
by air ). The Canadian Forces will be competing for space on these re-supply ships and tankers.
Such a large government contract will be welcomed by the shipping companies. The short-term losers will be
Northern communities who rely on the sealifts. This will make the North a less appealing place to live
for civilians which, in turn, will damage Canadian claims in the Arctic. Inadvertently, a Naval presence may
actually weaken those claims it was meant to bolster.
Like the locals, one alternative for the military is to fly in its supplies. Just inland from Nanisivik dock is a gravel airstrip (YSR / CYSR). This runway is 6400 feet (1950 m) and is
currently used by smaller airliners. The airfield is long enough to accommodate the new CC-177 strategic
transport aircraft. However, the existing gravel runway wont support a fully-loaded CC-177. This puts
DND in the position of either paying to strengthen the runway of this civilian airfield, or operating partially
loaded airlifters on their 4000 mile (6460 km) return flight from Trenton in the south. Other options are
equally unappealing. One would be to stage through the paved runway at Iqaluit allowing the CC-177s to
fly in and out of Nanisivik with minimal fuel. [3] Another option would be to use the older CC-130
Hercules.
Despite the difficulties, Nanisivik offers multiple advantages. The dock and other facilities already
exist. Nanisivik is fairly close to Resolute Bay, the location of the CFs planned
Arctic Warfare training base. And Nanisivik is on Strathcona Sound which leads directly onto the Northwest
Passage. As Clare Kines said in his article, Of
Ships and Sovereignty, ...Nanisivik is the smart choice if youre needing a base for Arctic
Patrol vessels. The only problem is the new scheme... is the wrong approach to sovereignty. The
real answer, Mr. Kines says, lies in the people of the North living on the land establishes
sovereignty far more dramatically than a modest military presence. Were the government to make the Arctic
a better place to live, Canadian sovereignty in the North would be assured.
The lessons learned from the Danes in Greenland is that sovereignty is as much about
inhabiting the North as it is about defending the North. It would
behoove the Federal Government to use any routine military flights required by the
Department of National Defence to also be seen as an opportunity to sustain those
civilian communities that already exist in the Canadian Arctic.
[1] Mining operations began in 1975 under CanZinco, a subsidiary of Breakwater
Resources. The site clean up was done by
Wolfden. Mining equipment dismantled at Nanisivik was to be
transported further south to Wolfdens High
Lake mining operation. The Nanisivik dock has not been
affected. For an excellent photo tour of
Nanisivik (taken by Vincent K. Chan in June 2005), see Arctic Circle.
[2] For a discussion of the proposed Iqaluit deepwater port, see:
CASRs
article, Breaking the Ice.
[3] This may seem to be an awkward compromise, but flying distance from
Iqaluit to Nanisivik is only 750 miles (1200
km). Such a staged route would allow the CC-177s to carry much less fuel,
thereby reducing their overall
weight and allowing a corresponding increase in the payload (cargo
weight). Thus, even heavily loaded
with supplies, at this much-reduced total weight, these new CF
airlifters should cause minimal damage to the
packed gravel airstrip near Nanisivik.
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