Deepwater port project seeks to revive century-old proposed trade route

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/08/2023 (803 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The provincial government is exploring the potential of building a second deepwater port on Hudson Bay, reviving a long-abandoned proposed shipping route through the Arctic Ocean.

The NeeStaNan project proposes building a trade corridor and seaport in Port Nelson, an abandoned settlement near the mouth of the Nelson River where it meets Hudson Bay.

The corridor would utilize rail and pipelines to ship potash from Saskatchewan and petroleum products from Alberta to the northern port, where it would then continue through the Arctic.

If built, the corridor could reduce shipping distances by 3,500 to 5,500 kilometres from existing transportation routes to Europe, the Gulf Coast and South America, the province said in a press release Thursday.

“This project will create incredible opportunities for Manitoba’s Indigenous communities to participate in clean energy and economic corridors that create financial benefit for remote and Indigenous communities. It will further our commitment to make Manitoba a ‘have’ province,” Premier Heather Stefanson said.

NeeStaNan, the company leading the proposal, is an Indigenous organization based in Calgary. The project would be 100 percent indigenous-owned and governed by a board of directors.

This week Manitoba announced it would commit $6.7 million to study the feasibility of the project, contingent on similar investments from Alberta, Saskatchewan and related First Nations communities.

The feasibility study is estimated to cost $26.6 million to complete, and will assess the viability and level of investment required to establish the trade corridor and associated infrastructure.

According to the proposal, rail lines would transport bulk cargo along the route, while pipelines could carry liquefied natural gas and inter-provincial power and communication lines.

“Key commodities such as potash, natural gas, wheat, bitumen and other critical minerals are landlocked in Western Canada, and transported via rail or pipeline through the Rocky Mountains to the west coast to reach international markets. If built, the NeeStaNan project would reduce shipping distances… while delivering economic, environmental and social benefits to First Nation communities,” the province said.

Canada is currently the world’s largest producer of potash, which can be used as an effective fertilizer and as the key component in many industrial compounds

“This vision of this project is to create an Indigenous-owned corridor connecting Manitoba with other Prairie provinces and support economic development in northern Manitoba,” Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Doyle Piwniuk said.

Officials from Fox Lake Cree Nation, located 750 km northeast of Winnipeg, and Gambler First Nation, located roughly 335 kilometres west near Binscarth, spoke in support of the NeeStaNan proposal.

The federal government sought to develop Port Nelson more than a century ago, but halted construction due to the economic effects of the First World War.

Between 1913 and 1917, a half-mile-long steel bridge and artificial island were constructed and then abandoned in the bay, where they remain today. Neither has ever been used.

According to historical records from Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba, Fredrick Palmer, an engineer, visited the site in 1927 to reassess its potential as a deepsea port.

His technical report determined it as “a less than desirable location for a port as it is wide and open to the north, offering little if any protection for ships. It is also very long and shallow, allowing for only a few hours a day when ships can safely navigate through a narrow channel.”

The mouth of the Churchill River was determined to be a more suitable location. The Hudson Bay Railway was diverted there, and the Port of Churchill was completed in 1931.

The release did not mention how the project might impact the Port of Churchill, which remains Canada’s only deepwater Arctic port connected to the North American railway system.

Political officials have extolled the port’s potential, but rail infrastructure supporting the site has been long-neglected, prompting a $147.6-million joint investment from the provincial and federal governments last August.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca