Navy in North

A voyage last year and an exercise this year:

Casual observers might be excused for thinking the navy’s planned voyage to the Northwest Passage in August will be the first in a long time.

But while all eyes focused on hurricane Katrina late last summer in the Gulf of Mexico, HMCS Fredericton was patrolling on the southeast coast of Devon Island just below the 75th parallel. It was the farthest north a Canadian warship had sailed in nearly two decades...

Fredericton’s voyage last year, to Devon Island, Lancaster Sound and Pond Inlet, marked the first time a Canadian naval vessel had ventured that far north since a combined scientific and military mission in 1987...

The warship spent two weeks above the Arctic Circle last August.

"I took three officers of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans north to inspect the Canadian fishing fleets and just to demonstrate presence amongst the international fishing fleets outside Canadian waters," Cmdr. Newton said.

The navy has been turning its eye toward the Arctic since 2000. And Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor has said he hopes to know by the end of the year where to build an Arctic deepwater port with the aim of increasing military presence in an area known to be rich in oil, gas and mineral resources.

"The whole idea of our thrust into the North is to regain the experience in our officers and men," Cmdr. Newton said. "The ships are capable of summertime navigation in most of the waters of the Canadian North."..

The frigate HMCS Montreal and coastal defence vessels HMCS Moncton and HMCS Goose Bay will be part of Operation Lancaster from Aug. 12 to 24. It will take the army, navy and air force into Lancaster Sound, the channel off the north coast of Baffin Island.

Six aircraft will fly overhead while a platoon of soldiers work with Ranger patrols from Nunavut communities. The ships will also patrol Lancaster Sound and conduct fishing surveillance...