Post by Ducky on Dec 31, 2004 16:08:40 GMT -5
Fri, December 31, 2004
'Murmansk Run' revival?
Polar warming trends revive arctic route idea
By KATHLEEN MARTENS, BUSINESS REPORTER
An "Arctic bridge" between Manitoba's northern Port of Churchill and the Russian port city of Murmansk is being floated by some big names. The unusual project got a boost earlier this month when it was featured in American business bible, Forbes magazine.
The players behind the idea are using the metaphor to describe how they would connect the two continents as international trading partners.
They say global warming, which is melting once-frozen passages, and changes in Russia's politics are helping make their dream a reality.
"We have a lot of hard work ahead to do this," said Michael Ogborn, managing director of Denver, Colo.-based OmniTRAX, which owns the Arctic industrial port and related rail line. "It's a business opportunity we want to take."
OmniTRAX bought the money-losing port for $10 from the federal government in 1997. It then took over the related rail line that runs from Churchill to The Pas, Flin Flon and Lynn Lake from CN Rail for an unconfirmed $10 million U.S.
Ogborn said OmniTRAX has been working since then to diversify the cargo shipped through the grain-reliant port on Hudson Bay, and upgrade its facilities and train track.
Manitoba Premier Gary Doer, federal Treasury Board president Reg Alcock, and University of Winnipeg president and former Liberal cabinet minister Lloyd Axworthy are on board, Ogborn said. Russia's ambassador to Canada, Georgiy Mamedov, is also receptive, Ogborn said. The U.S. ambassador was another visitor, he said.
CLIMATE CHANGE
The company said climate change is potentially extending the usual shipping season of July to October. Mamedov, Ogborn said, has pitched the idea of using 10 advanced Russian ice breakers to extend it even further.
Cargo landing in Churchill could then be shipped along a multi-kilometre North American trade route called the "Murmansk to Monterrey (Mexico) Trade Corridor."
Barry Prentice, director of the Transport Institute at the University of Manitoba, said the idea of an "Arctic bridge" may sound far-fetched but could be possible as the ice cap melts.
"We also know the NorthWest Passage may be opening up," he said of the fabled route that could become a commercial link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. "I don't think it's a joke ... Churchill has a long-term future. This route makes sense."
OmniTRAX is sending three company representatives to Murmansk next month for further talks. The Manitoba government is planning a trade mission to the area next spring, the company said.
- On the web: www.omnitrax.ca
'Murmansk Run' revival?
Polar warming trends revive arctic route idea
By KATHLEEN MARTENS, BUSINESS REPORTER
An "Arctic bridge" between Manitoba's northern Port of Churchill and the Russian port city of Murmansk is being floated by some big names. The unusual project got a boost earlier this month when it was featured in American business bible, Forbes magazine.
The players behind the idea are using the metaphor to describe how they would connect the two continents as international trading partners.
They say global warming, which is melting once-frozen passages, and changes in Russia's politics are helping make their dream a reality.
"We have a lot of hard work ahead to do this," said Michael Ogborn, managing director of Denver, Colo.-based OmniTRAX, which owns the Arctic industrial port and related rail line. "It's a business opportunity we want to take."
OmniTRAX bought the money-losing port for $10 from the federal government in 1997. It then took over the related rail line that runs from Churchill to The Pas, Flin Flon and Lynn Lake from CN Rail for an unconfirmed $10 million U.S.
Ogborn said OmniTRAX has been working since then to diversify the cargo shipped through the grain-reliant port on Hudson Bay, and upgrade its facilities and train track.
Manitoba Premier Gary Doer, federal Treasury Board president Reg Alcock, and University of Winnipeg president and former Liberal cabinet minister Lloyd Axworthy are on board, Ogborn said. Russia's ambassador to Canada, Georgiy Mamedov, is also receptive, Ogborn said. The U.S. ambassador was another visitor, he said.
CLIMATE CHANGE
The company said climate change is potentially extending the usual shipping season of July to October. Mamedov, Ogborn said, has pitched the idea of using 10 advanced Russian ice breakers to extend it even further.
Cargo landing in Churchill could then be shipped along a multi-kilometre North American trade route called the "Murmansk to Monterrey (Mexico) Trade Corridor."
Barry Prentice, director of the Transport Institute at the University of Manitoba, said the idea of an "Arctic bridge" may sound far-fetched but could be possible as the ice cap melts.
"We also know the NorthWest Passage may be opening up," he said of the fabled route that could become a commercial link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. "I don't think it's a joke ... Churchill has a long-term future. This route makes sense."
OmniTRAX is sending three company representatives to Murmansk next month for further talks. The Manitoba government is planning a trade mission to the area next spring, the company said.
- On the web: www.omnitrax.ca