Three Arctic communities fear they’ve been cut off from crucial winter supplies after a government-owned company cancelled the annual supply barge that replenishes them.
Marine Transportation Services Ltd., owned by the Northwest Territories, says there’s too much sea ice to run the scheduled barge to the central Arctic communities of Paulatuk, Kugluktuk and Cambridge Bay.
That’s left millions of dollars worth of everything from household groceries to construction supplies to municipal equipment stranded on the docks in Tuktoyaktuk.
A spokeswoman for the company says it’s trying to find an alternate way to reach the communities, which have no road access.
Meanwhile, local business owners say it would cost them tens of thousands of dollars extra to fly in the supplies.
Some were counting on the supplies for new homes, while others are left making loan payments on vehicles they haven’t received.