Labrador Marine working through ferry passenger, supply backlog

The company operating the Qajaq W ferry says they're almost through the backlog of supplies destined for southern Labrador.

A buildup of ice, bottlenecked at the point where the ferry crosses between Blanc-Sablon, Que., on the Labrador side of the Strait and St. Barbe on Newfoundland's Northern Peninsula, kept the boat from crossing for more than a week.

With the help of the CCGS Henry Larsen icebreaker, the ferry has been carrying frustrated passengers and essential cargo on a limited basis for days.

"We're providing an essential service," said Labrador Marine manager captain Austin Daley. "When you get down to not being able to move food stores, you know it's getting pretty serious then."

The region relies on the Qajaq W to keep shelves stocked, and Daley said there are about 10 tractor-trailers of cargo waiting to get into Labrador.

"If we could get two or three crossings over the next day or so we would be caught up with the supplies," he said.

Ice jamming is an annual problem for the Qajaq W, and the company and the province offer flight service across the strait when the ferry can't cross.

Last season, Daley said they had 49 crossings cancelled. So far this year, there have been 34 cancellations.

Daley says the ice pressure has reduced enough that he's optimistic they'll be able to get two crossings a day for the next few days.

"The difference we're seeing this year, we have a small band of ice across the Straits, very heavy, it's not from the Gulf [of St. Lawrence], it's from the north Lab coast and it's moved down with traces of old ice which is in excess of four feet thick. Icebergs and bergy bits as well," he said.

He expectsthe ferry will be able to make two crossings a day for the next few days, but "the solution is wind, and we haven't had any wind to move or change the location or disperse this ice in the past 10 or 12 days."

CBC meteorologist Ashley Brauweiler says they'll likely be waiting until the weekend for any significant wind.

"The winds will pick up on Friday from the northwest and then veer northerly on Saturday," she said.

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