THUNDERBIRD ENTERTAINMENT AND CBC TEAM UP FOR HIGH ARCTIC HAULERS
New prime time factual series brings Canada’s riveting and critical Arctic sealift to audiences around the world
Thunderbird Entertainment Group Inc. is pleased to announce the launch of its newest high-action factual series, High Arctic Haulers, in partnership with CBC. Produced by Thunderbird’s Factual Division Great Pacific Media, High Arctic Haulers airs at 8:00 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC and the free CBC Gem streaming service in Canada.
Near the top of the world, there’s a place so remote that only the toughest dare stay. To live in the High Arctic you must be resilient, resourceful and willing to beat the odds. Once a year, the Arctic gambles on the Sealift – an armada of cargo ships packed with supplies the land doesn’t provide.
High Arctic Haulers is a factual series that tells the story of a thriving North through the lens of “The Sealift” – an annual mission to resupply dozens of the most isolated communities in Canada. There is no place in the world more difficult to move cargo than the Arctic. Complicated by weather, ice and a lack of infrastructure, each cargo ship in the fleet is self-sufficient – complete with tugs, barges, cranes and loaders to land and deliver on Canada’s most remote shorelines. The ships leave from Montreal to chase retreating ice during a brief window in the summer when winter’s grip on the region loosens.
The Sealift is the lifeline of the North and is packed with thousands of tonnes of supplies to meet the growing demand of Canada’s most resilient communities. In the North the biggest day of the Year isn’t Christmas, it’s the day the ship arrives. This season, the Sealift will carry construction materials to replace a school that burned down, a taxicab for Igloolik, and new equipment for a rapidly expanding fish plant. Add that to the toys that will be stocked on store shelves and tons of groceries, and by watching you will quickly see the Sealift is crucial to the North.
Leading the Haulers is the unofficial admiral of the fleet, Captain Michel Duplain. A thirty-year veteran of the seas, Captain Duplain has spent the last decade navigating Arctic waters. For the Captain, there is nowhere in the world as alluring as the Arctic – the smells, the sights, the freedom. But the call of the North can’t mask the challenging mission Captain Duplain has ahead of him this summer. He’s taking 22,000 tonnes of cargo to the Arctic and doing it all with a new crew aboard a ship he’s never sailed before. Through it all, Captain Duplain never wavers – a steady hand at the wheel of the Sedna in the always dangerous Arctic waterways.
On the Taiga, Captain Olivier Nault is the youngest commander in the Desgagnés fleet. The 35-year-old is a rising star, with a huge responsibility, running the largest ship in the fleet. Along with First Mate, Marc-Antoine Saucier, Captain Nault and the Taiga have the busiest schedule in the fleet. They are a no-nonsense-get-it-done crew that is willing to take on anything the Arctic can throw at them.
Communities across Canada’s Arctic have been waiting up to a year for the resupply missions of the Sealift. From Nunavut’s rapidly growing capital city, Iqaluit, to Canada’s northernmost settlement, Grise Fiord, the north is expanding and the Sealift is the only way to bring in the goods and supplies to meet those demands. In Iqaluit, the sealift brings in hotels, a new port and even a brewery. In Grise Fiord, it’s a new power plant to replace their aging, failing power supply. Gjoa Haven and Pangnirtung need new emergency vehicles; Kugarruk, a new school. Cape Dorset needs a gravel compactor to finish off the Arctic’s first BMX track. Kugluktuk’s community needs table tennis and lacrosse equipment to keep up with demand from its youth. And in Chesterfield Inlet, a single mother of three has been saving for two years to purchase her family a new red pickup truck.
High Arctic Haulers is a gruelling test of endurance. It is the story of adventure and resilience in a place where tradition and ambition mix in the cold Arctic wind, because to thrive up here – the haul must get through.
High Arctic Haulers is unique in the way that is both celebrates the North and the achievements of the vibrant and resilient residents that choose the high arctic as their home, while showcases the hard work that goes into keeping the High Arctic supplied with vital equipment and resources that are too large to fly in. The 7-part series airs Sunday nights at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC. Watch the first two episodes now on CBC Gem: https://gem.cbc.ca/season/high-arctic-haulers/season-1/3a69b049-cccf-43bf-bf2c-71b5575a211f
For interviews and photos please contact: Lesley Diana | Great Pacific Media Publicist | Lesley@thepromotionpeople.ca | 604-726-5575
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