No supply ships to ice-free areas

An unusual weather phenomenon has hit large parts of the coast in recent months, with both the snow and the cold absent and replaced by rain and thaw.

For this very reason, large parts of the coast are still completely ice-free. This has led several politicians who live in areas where there is usually already solid sea ice at this time of year to demand that RAL take advantage of the situation and send ships with fresh supplies.

But the winter supplies have already arrived with planned ship calls at the end of the year, says Niels Clemensen, CEO of Royal Arctic Line.

Requires action

Jens Napãtôᴋ', Naleraq, who is the 1st Deputy Mayor of Avannaata Municipality and a member of Inatsisartut, lives in Upernavik, where the waters would normally be covered with winter ice at this time of year, but which are still completely ice-free. Therefore, he has sent a strong call to Naalakkersuisut already on January 7th to create better supply opportunities in remote areas that are currently ice-free. He believes that the supply of goods should apply to all residents of the country in towns and settlements on the coast where there is ice formation in the winter.

- The sea ice started to come very late in many places, and yet the supply of goods via the sea has not been adjusted. It is time to adjust the conditions so that citizens benefit from it. When we compare with others on the coast, we notice that our conditions in East Greenland and North Greenland are worse.

- While there is no longer any ice-laying, it is important to plan better, which is why we from Naleraq strongly urge the Government of Greenland to act for more and better opportunities.

- Outer districts that normally have ice cover in winter now have open sea, so it is time for these to be supplied much better than today, he says.

He finds it unfair that only the central parts of the coast receive better service than the outer districts and hopes that the request from Naleraq will be heard and that immediate action will be taken.

Several politicians in Uummannaq and Disko Bay, whom Sermitsiaq has spoken to, state that the waters in these areas are also still ice-free, and that they also support the call from Jens Napãtôᴋ'.

No winter supply

But according to Niels Clemensen, who is the CEO of Royal Arctic Line, the shipping company has no plans to send additional supply ships to either North Greenland or East Greenland, as all winter supplies to these locations have arrived with scheduled ship calls.

He states that RAL uses the winter period to maintain the fleet at the shipyard and along the quay so that the ships are ready for the coming season and thus minimizes the risk of technical breakdowns during the high season.