Port of Churchill resumes grain shipments for first time in six years

After six years without grain shipments, the Port of Churchill is loading 30,000 tonnes of durum wheat for Europe. The shipment marks the return of commercial activity at Canada’s only Arctic seaport.

The vessel is the first of three ships scheduled to leave Churchill this season. Another ship is due to arrive this week to take on zinc concentrate and potash mined in Manitoba.

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The return of Churchill as a vital arctic gateway

Federal Minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs Rebecca Chartrand described the shipment as “the return of Churchill as a vital arctic gateway.” Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn called the port “a corridor of opportunity” in a changing world.

Operations at Churchill stopped in 2016 after deteriorating rail-line conditions disrupted access to the port. At the time, the port and railway belonged to U.S.-based OmniTRAX. The Manitoba-based Arctic Gateway Group acquired the facilities in 2018 and restarted operations the following year, but activity stopped again in 2020 while additional work was needed on the port and rail line.

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A corridor of opportunity and the benefit that we see in a world that is changing

Upgrades remain underway, including planned repairs to large sinkholes on the wharf. Arctic Gateway Group chief executive Chris Avery said the infrastructure had been neglected for decades and praised Canadian, northern Manitoban and First Nations ownership for taking control of it.

The shipment comes as Manitoba examines whether Churchill could support year-round shipping. Three recent studies concluded that this may be possible as climate change shortens the sea-ice season, using existing ice-class vessels and no icebreakers. A study by FedNav, Canada’s largest ocean bulk-shipping company, offered a less optimistic assessment and warned that sea-ice conditions vary.

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This was a set of assets that was neglected for decades, ironically by American interests