Effective immediately, all Marine Transportation Services in and out of Norman Wells and Tulita have been suspended for the 2024 sailing season.
This decision was made primarily due to historically low water levels along the Mackenzie River near Fort Providence. The river has been left non navigable, as large boulders and gravel bars are now protruding from the riverbed in vital areas. These conditions would risk the safety and integrity of passing vessels if they attempted to travel along the river.
Any customers who have already dropped their cargo at the Hay River terminal can chose to either have it transported along the nearby winter road, or leave it at the terminal until next season. Customers will be contacted directly by MTS.
Any fuel on its way to Tulita will instead be delivered by the Fuel Services Division during the 2025 winter road season. The Division expects that they will have enough fuel to last until that time. Fuel sales in Norman Wells are managed by Imperial Oil Limited, who have been informed of this development, and are in the process of informing their customers to think of alternate supply lines.
Any other customers who would be shipping cargo north of Norman Wells will be asked to use the Tuktoyaktuk terminal instead.
