Will there be much of a 2025 barge season? Here’s what we know

“At the end of the day, we have to wait for Coast Guard to make a decision.”

Vince McKay, the NWT’s communities and infrastructure minister, says a big chunk of the summer 2025 barge season rests on the Coast Guard’s assessment of the Mackenzie River.

Early in a regular summer, the Coast Guard drops 875 navigation buoys along the river. If it can’t drop those buoys because the water is too low, McKay said, that’s the signal to move to a backup plan for barging.

“That would be the go or no go. If the Coast Guard says they’re not doing it, then that’s the no go,” McKay told Cabin Radio last week.

Jeremy Hennessy, a spokesperson for the Canadian Coast Guard, said the work of placing the buoys typically begins in early to mid-June and can take a few weeks. The CCGS Dumit and CCGS Eckaloo have shallow drafts – 1.4 metres and 1.6 metres respectively – to help navigate the river.

The work of dropping the buoys can happen earlier or later depending on water levels, weather and ice conditions. By May 23 last year, the water levels on the Mackenzie were so low that we already knew the summer barges to Tulita and Norman Wells would not run.

This year, officials say it’s too early to make a call.

“The CCG has not yet begun installing buoys on Great Slave Lake and the Mackenzie River, as they remain frozen. CCG will assess water levels once the ice is off the river and begin its spring buoy tending operations when it is safe to do so,” Hennessy stated by email on Wednesday.

“Things are looking positive,” said McKay. “You can’t really tell until once the ice clears up and everything starts flowing as per normal. Decisions should be made here pretty soon.”

What’s the backup plan?

Not everyone is as optimistic.

Speaking earlier this month, Mayor of Norman Wells Frank Pope said he does not think barges will reach the community this summer.

Residents and businesses in Norman Wells tried to use the winter road to stock up for a year where they could, anticipating that barges might not be able to make it.

If the barges can’t run up the Mackenzie from Hay River as normal, McKay said there are backup plans in place.

“Last year was very successful in the Arctic and the coastline up in the Arctic,” the minister said, referring to plans that trucked freight to Tuktoyaktuk and then out to some communities by barge from the Arctic coast, avoiding the Mackenzie.

“There is a plan in place to essentially run some freight and fuel from Fort Simpson to Norman Wells, and try to go that route,” he added.

That would involve driving goods into the Dehcho and then barging along the Mackenzie, skipping a section of the river near Fort Providence that is particularly hard to navigate when water levels are low.

Even that backup plan depends to some degree on water levels, McKay conceded.

Changes to cargo rates

This year, the approach taken to charging freight fees has changed.

Cargo rates have gone up with inflation, but they have also been adjusted to create what Marine Transportation Services – the government division in charge of barges – says is a more streamlined and equitable system.

“All cargo will now be billed under the general cargo rate, based on the actual size and weight of the shipment,” the territory stated earlier this month.

“In previous seasons, MTS used a quantity billing system whereby, for example, all snowmobiles would have been charged at the same rate regardless of size and weight. In 2025, customers will be billed by revenue tonne, meaning that those shipping smaller snowmobiles will pay less than those shipping larger snowmobiles.”

McKay said that means customers can expect to only “be charged for the weight you’re carrying.”

“If you had a smaller Ski-doo, you were still paying the price of the big Ski-doo. I think [the new system is] a better way of going about it for the customers,” he said.

Container pricing has been altered. MTS said it had been undercharging based on a “smaller, inaccurate container size” and has corrected pricing by about four percent.