The NWT’s freight barges have increased base prices by a little under six percent for most cargo deliveries in the 2023 summer shipping season, but fuel surcharges are down.
Compared to 2022 prices, most fees in a 2023 price guide advertised by the Department of Infrastructure this week are around 5.6 percent to 5.8 percent higher.
For example, the general cargo rate between Hay River and Tuktoyaktuk is now $522 per tonne, up from $494 last year – an increase of 5.67 percent.
Sending a containerized pallet from Inuvik to Paulatuk carries a list price of $438 this year, up from $414, an increase of 5.8 percent.
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This year, MTS – Marine Transportation Services, the territorially owned barge operator – says a fuel surcharge of 18 percent will apply to all cargo items “due to increases in global fuel costs.”
That’s down slightly from a 24-percent surcharge applied last year.
After this article was first published, the NWT’s Department of Infrastructure said that adjustment would mean most rates are similar to the previous year’s payments.
In the Hay River to Tuk example above, the overall pre-tax cost would rise slightly from $612.56 in 2022 to $615.96 in 2023.
