Tuktoyaktuk drilling platform to become new dock, reinforce shoreline

The company responsible for recycling an artificial island that was anchored off Tuktoyaktuk plans to reuse the material to help protect the Arctic coastal community from erosion.

Known as a caisson retained island, the large steel octagon – built in 1982 – was used to construct temporary exploration or drilling platforms in the western Arctic. After being used for drilling, it was moored in Tuktoyaktuk’s harbour.

Jordan Elliott, project manager and senior salvage master for Marine Recycling Corporation, said the company began formal talks to purchase the island in the spring of 2023.

After a recent storm pushed the structure up onto Tuktoyaktuk’s beach, Elliott said conversations began again. A spokesperson for FedNav – the old owner – confirmed ownership was officially transferred to Marine Recycling Corporation in August.

“We are pleased to see tangible progress on this matter and view the successful removal as a positive development for the Tuktoyaktuk harbour area,” the FedNav spokesperson said.

Elliott said Marine Recycling Corporation staff have spent plenty of time in the region, getting to know project partner E Gruben’s Transport Ltd.

“We got to truly feel, see and appreciate the scope of erosion in the harbour, especially as storms are now more frequent and violent,” said Elliott.

The company plans to use four of the island’s eight sections to build a new dock in Tuk’s harbour, helping to bolster the existing shoreline. The other four pieces may be reused elsewhere, Elliott said.

He said the dock could also attract interest from the Department of National Defence and Canadian Coast Guard.

“We as a hamlet are just grateful and satisfied that something is being done to get it removed in as safe and healthy a way as possible, to do no harm to the harbour,” Mayor of Tuktoyaktuk Vince Teddy told Cabin Radio in September.

The community of 1,000 people recently installed armoured stone revetments along its shore and the island sheltering Tuk’s harbour. That island is eroding by two metres every year and researchers have said it could be breached in 20 to 25 years.

Elliott said it took a month to clean the structure, but the previous owners did an “excellent job at removing the pollutants,” with 50,000 litres of residual diesel fuel left behind. The structure has been detergent-washed.

“The salvage was cool and a bit complex and certainly remote, but the reuse strategy and watching that come to fruition will be very exciting,” said Elliott.

“It’ll be a significant boost to not just the local economy, but also to Canada’s ability to maintain Arctic sovereignty and defend our northern land.”

Elliott said Marine Recycling Corporation will have a reuse and installation plan ready for when the ice melts next summer.