Russian ship takes fertilizer to Canada

Manitoba would like to have a trade corridor
extending from Churchill to the Gulf of Mexico.

TORONTO GLOBE AND MAIL

WINNIPEG, Canada — The Russian ship slipped into Canada’s northern seaport under the cover of darkness, and its arrival was hailed as an historic step in the construction of an Arctic bridge between the two countries.

The Kapitan Sviridov docked in Churchill, Manitoba, earlier this week, having sailed from Estonia loaded with bags of fertilizer destined for sale to North American farmers. It’s the first time the port has accepted imports from Russia.

Officials from the Russian embassy greeted the ship yesterday, along with representatives of the port of Churchill, the Murmansk Shipping Company and the government of Manitoba.

“Today represents the first successful shipment on the Arctic bridge,” said Mike Ogborn, managing director of OmniTrax, the company that owns the port. “It is a great step forward in showing the world that the port of Churchill is a two-way port.”

The concept of the Arctic bridge has long been a priority for the government of Manitoba, which sees vast potential for Churchill as the northern hub of a midcontinent trade corridor that would extend to the Gulf of Mexico. Churchill already boasts the advantage of having the shortest sea route between Canada and northern Europe, and it received a substantial boost this month when Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced $68 million in public and private funding to upgrade the aging port and railway.

The Russian government is also eager to encourage Churchill’s growth, because it sees it as a natural outlet for its northern port of Murmansk.

“The goal is very simple,” said Sergey Khuduiakov, acting press attachi for the embassy of the Russian Federation. “Global warming gives us an opportunity to establish better marine shipping routes between Canada and Russia, and this project, Arctic bridge, has very good prospects.

“For Canada and Russia, we are both very interested in the development of our northern regions. Cooperation is very important for us.”

Michael Berk, a research fellow at the Canadian Institute of International Affairs, a non-profit think tank, said Churchill could become the terminus of a new silk road linking Eurasia and North America.