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00:00Umiak-1 is the lifeline to a remote nickel mine on Canada's east coast.
00:06And the mine desperately needs supplies.
00:11This ship has to get there.
00:13It's a never-ending battle. A warrior on board.
00:16Fighting through storms and swells, she'll return with a $100 million cargo.
00:23If something had to go wrong, you don't have a lot of money for her.
00:27Out here in the ice, Umiak-1 is on her own.
00:43Umiak-1 is the most powerful ice-breaking bulk carrier in the world.
00:49Driven by the largest single engine in Canada,
00:52she sails just one route, the 2,100 kilometres between Quebec City
00:58and the Voisey's Bay nickel mine in north-eastern Labrador.
01:06From Quebec, she brings the supplies needed to sustain the miners and keep the mine working.
01:13Then she returns again, loaded with up to 30,000 tonnes of nickel concentrate.
01:18A haul worth more than $100 million.
01:23She makes this round-trip at least once a month, no matter what the weather.
01:30Every journey is a heavy-duty obstacle course for Captain Dean Rose.
01:40We're up here operating about four or five months in the winter out of a year,
01:45so the guys are used to the cold. They don't mind it.
01:48They do a good job, a really good job.
01:51In 2006, Captain Rose was first officer on Umiak-1's maiden voyage.
01:56Four years later, he was given command.
02:02Captain Rose hails from the rugged Atlantic Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador,
02:07and so does almost everyone else on board.
02:09It's nice to work with a bunch of guys from your own province.
02:13Our accent, as you can tell, is pretty strong,
02:16so we've got no trouble to understand each other.
02:19Outsiders might have trouble.
02:23All right, how are you doing up forward, Ken?
02:26Umiak-1 sails in every season, but this is the most treacherous time of the year.
02:33The end of March is very unpredictable.
02:35It basically boils down to a day-to-day or an hour-to-hour fiasco.
02:40So at one minute it can be flat calm,
02:43and the next minute it can be gusting up to 35, 40 knots.
02:48It's 4 p.m. in Quebec City,
02:50just four hours before Captain Rose must leave on the five-day voyage.
02:56Are they going to start number three hatch now?
02:59The person responsible for loading the 1,400 tons of cargo on board
03:04is Chief Officer Kent Waddleton.
03:06We want to get out of here on time.
03:08We want to make our next berth so we can proceed north.
03:132,100 kilometers away, 250 miners are waiting for these goods.
03:25Today, the ship is loaded with everything from frozen vegetables to diesel oil.
03:31Today, the ship is loaded with everything from frozen vegetables to diesel oil,
03:36to cables, to these 19-ton trucks.
03:42Stretching 189 meters, Umiak-1 is the queen of multitasking.
03:49She's an icebreaker.
03:51Her reinforced hull can crush ice ridges 10 meters thick.
03:56She's a bulk carrier.
03:58Her four hulls can haul up to 30,000 tons of loose cargo, like minerals or grain.
04:05She's a mini oil tanker, able to carry 7,000 cubic meters of fuel to power the mine.
04:11And her three cranes can load up to 152 containers on deck.
04:20This cargo needs to remain lashed down for the next four to five days.
04:28We need to make sure it's well-lashed, because we can get in some rough weather.
04:32Post-Labrador in the wintertime is going to be a nasty place sometimes.
04:43If we get a 19-ton back truck getting loose on the deck, it could do a lot of damage.
04:50By 6pm, the trucks, cables and other cargo, plus 105 containers, are stowed on board.
04:58But the loading isn't over.
05:04Captain Rose and harbour pilot Bruno Leblanc guide Umiak-1 towards a second dock, 5 kilometers away.
05:12A tugboat does the heavy pulling.
05:20At this second berth, the ship has to pick up two final containers.
05:25Docking here is usually a routine procedure.
05:28But what should be a quick stopover is proving difficult.
05:34In late March, ice is no surprise.
05:37But today, the ice is stuck in place and blocking the ship's path.
05:54A serious delay here could mean a big delay in getting to the mine.
06:02Captain Rose and pilot Leblanc call on a tugboat to flush away the ice.
06:08It's not a quick fix.
06:13It's a slow process having to flush the ice, and it's a pain to have to deal with.
06:17But it's wintertime, it's that time of year, and we're in order to deal with it.
06:25In no time, the weather has gone from good to grey.
06:29And it's only going to get worse.
06:31In a matter of an hour, we've got fairly heavy snow here now.
06:34I checked the weather earlier, and it looks like there's a low-pressure system moving in.
06:40So I'd like to be out clear in fairly open water by the time it hits,
06:44to give us a little bit of a leeway for tonight.
06:51Every second lost here delays Umiak-1's departure,
06:54and makes it even more likely she'll be hit by the looming storm.
07:02Good, nice and steady.
07:04Almost up.
07:06We're about one foot from the rope.
07:08Perfect, perfect.
07:10A little bit slow, but slowly and safe.
07:14Getting through this ice was tough enough, but there's plenty more waiting ahead.
07:24On the dock, Kent and his crew start hoisting aboard the last two loads.
07:28Just want to make sure it comes in smoothly, and doesn't bang into any containers.
07:33But time is tight.
07:35The captain wants to cast off in just over 60 minutes.
07:41Down below, the engineering crew revs up the engine for the five-day voyage.
07:47Engine room, Rex.
07:49One hour's nose for departure. Okay, Martin, thanks.
07:51All right, bye-bye.
07:53We'll watch our temperatures and our pressures, make sure that everything's coming up.
07:58Evenly.
08:01On land or sea, this is the largest single engine in Canada.
08:07With 30,000 horsepower and seven cylinders,
08:10it measures nearly 13 metres tall and weighs 663 tonnes.
08:17You have to climb up to expect hurts.
08:19You actually have to climb down.
08:21Just the sheer size of the engine itself is what makes her special.
08:25Every aspect of the engine operates on a gigantic scale.
08:29The stroke of the piston alone is an amazing four and a half metres.
08:38And because Umiak-1 travels unescorted through isolated waters,
08:42the engine can never, ever be allowed to break down.
08:47When we get up into the east, if anything goes wrong with this engine, we're by ourselves.
08:52There's no other ship that can get to where we're going.
09:02Up above, Kent has good news.
09:04The loading is complete.
09:07Umiak-1 is ready to leave for the Voisey's Bay mine.
09:11We finished just under the time we had allotted at both berths.
09:15So everything's going good.
09:17We should be able to get underway by 8 o'clock.
09:21If he knows to get on the go, it's not all that important.
09:26We'll see how it goes day by day.
09:28Hopefully everything's going to go good.
09:30In clear weather, the journey takes about four days.
09:34But March in eastern Canada means howling winds, rough seas and fighting through thick ice.
09:42Umiak-1 can't back down.
09:44250 lives depend on her making it to the mine.
09:48And a $100 million cargo awaits.
09:56Loaded with critical supplies, Umiak-1 makes her way through the Gulf of St. Lawrence
10:01to a nickel mine in Labrador on Canada's east coast.
10:05She's so far away from any other sea traffic,
10:08her only company is a plane from the Canadian Government's Environment Ministry,
10:13here to survey ice conditions.
10:16Umiak-1 takes her name from the northern aboriginal word for a large sealskin boat,
10:22traditionally used to transport families and equipment on hunting and whaling expeditions.
10:29This modern-day Umiak moves a different kind of family and cargo.
10:34And she always travels alone, completely dependent on her one and only engine.
10:41This engine is my baby and I want to make sure she stays in top shape.
10:46Chief Engineer Gary Bishop is responsible for maintaining the largest engine in Canada.
10:57Since we haven't made it up to the ice yet, it's easy sailing at the moment.
11:00This is the time to check all of our systems out to make sure that there is no problems.
11:04Because we don't want to have any problems once we hit the ice.
11:08Gary's team spends every day on the lookout for trouble.
11:11And today, 3rd Engineer Rex Dominey finds it.
11:16We've got a fuel pump leaking on number 3 generator, number 3 fuel pump.
11:20If not handled immediately, small problems can escalate into major disasters.
11:27With hot fuel in on the engine like that, it's possible we could have a fire.
11:30With lots of fuel, we can also have a loss of power.
11:33And if the standby generator doesn't respond quickly enough, we could have a blackout.
11:39The crew must take the generator offline to repair the leak.
11:45Umiak-1 relies on three diesel-powered generators to supply all of her electricity.
11:52These generators ensure that fuel keeps pumping to the engine,
11:55computers keep running and cranes keep lifting.
11:58They power everything, right down to the desk lamps.
12:03But the generators are never all used at the same time.
12:06One is always set aside as a backup.
12:10So Mike, is getting the generator ready to start?
12:12He's going to start on number 2.
12:13Alright, perfect.
12:15While one generator is shut down,
12:17another is brought online to keep the power flowing and the engine running.
12:22Gary's crew tackles the leaking fuel pump,
12:24and the ship continues on her way, without losing a minute.
12:30The key with any of these issues is that we identify them quickly,
12:34keep everything under control.
12:37As Gary's team toils down below,
12:39the crew on the bridge prepares for an emergency drill.
12:43Okay, roger that.
12:45They do this every three months.
12:47There's going to be the port side.
12:50A junior officer, Ashton Regula,
12:52will steer the ship to practice rescuing someone who's fallen overboard.
12:56A plastic buoy stands in for the unlucky sailor.
13:00Ashton is at the wheel for the first time.
13:02He's a new joiner that just joined the ship back in Quebec City.
13:07It's like taking a new pirate for a ride.
13:11As part of his training, the new joiner is given a big test.
13:18Ashton must execute a Williamson turn,
13:21a rescue maneuver involving extreme and sudden steering actions with the rudder,
13:25to bring the ship back alongside the man overboard as quickly as possible.
13:33When everyone's ready, Captain Dean Rose gives the signal.
13:48At this time of year,
13:49survival in these freezing waters is measured in mere minutes.
14:00Ashton makes a textbook Williamson turn.
14:06It doesn't hurt that Umiak-1 is a dream to steer.
14:14The ship is 630 feet long,
14:17but she turns as if she's 150 feet.
14:20It's quite amazing that she's so maneuverable.
14:25Because of the size of the rudder, this thing turns very, very fast.
14:29This is like a force compared to what I'm used to.
14:37The ship and her crew have passed a big test.
14:40Should the real thing occur, they'll be ready.
14:47Day two, and Umiak-1 is about to leave the Gulf of St. Lawrence
14:51and sail through the Strait of Belisle,
14:54heading northwest up the Labrador coast.
14:58Now, the hard graft begins.
15:08The ship sails through all kinds of ice.
15:10First and second year ice, which is easy to break through.
15:13Older and tougher multi-year ice.
15:16Landfast ice, attached to the coast, and free-floating ice.
15:21The ice can range from a few centimetres thick to ridges 15 metres high.
15:27And then, of course, there are icebergs.
15:31But no matter what the form, shape or age,
15:35Umiak-1 takes on everything that comes her way.
15:39The ship is strong. She's a good seaboard.
15:41She's a good seaboard, and she's made for us.
15:46Her hull is reinforced to ride up and crush ice ridges more than 10 metres thick.
15:52And it's coated with a special low-friction paint to help ice and snow slide off.
15:59In heavy conditions, she can also spray her path with thousands of litres of water
16:03to soften the ice and snow.
16:06But even with all these defences, ice remains a constant threat.
16:10The ship had to come up, and a piece of old ice go beneath the bow of the ship.
16:16You risk damaging the ship.
16:19On her second evening at sea, Umiak-1 sails into rough weather.
16:26The ice conditions that were forecasted is not close to what we're experiencing.
16:31Moving through the narrow straits of Belle Isle,
16:33she hits a north-easterly wind that jams chunks of ice and snow into her path,
16:38creating a bottleneck in the narrow space.
16:45So, right here is the bottleneck area.
16:47The wind is blowing this way, so everything is concentrated in this area here.
16:53Sailing through the bottleneck, the ship drags some 30 metres of ice
16:57Sailing through the bottleneck, the ship drags some 30 metres of ice
17:01on either side of her hull.
17:05Right now, the snow is just zapping the speed.
17:08We're down to about five knots.
17:11Captain Rose wants to get to the mine in the next three days.
17:14At this speed, that's not going to happen.
17:19Patience is very important when you're navigating in ice.
17:23At midnight, Chief Officer Kent Waddleton takes over for the captain.
17:30With low visibility, icebergs in the area and a few tonnes of sea ice along for the ride,
17:36it looks like Umiak-1 is in for a long, tough fight.
17:42Umiak-1 is three days away from her destination,
17:46the Voises Bay Nickel Mine in eastern Canada.
17:49The Voises Bay Nickel Mine in eastern Canada.
17:53The world's most powerful ice-breaking bulk carrier is about to leave open coastal waters behind
17:59and sail where only she can, the ice fields off the coast of Labrador.
18:06If there's an emergency now, she's on her own.
18:10I'm just going to go up and have a look at the oysage to see if it's safe to proceed in.
18:15We'll reduce our speed to about six knots.
18:18Take a look. A little bit beat up, I guess, with all the wind that we've had the last couple of days.
18:23Pushing through ice makes huge demands on the ship's engine.
18:27It's already running at a standard 72 revolutions per minute,
18:31but that's not nearly enough to break through the ice.
18:34For that, Captain Dean Rose needs the ship to be running at full power, 91 rpm.
18:41Engine room, Rex.
18:43Yes, sir.
18:44You want 91 rpm.
18:46OK, you can take control here with the constant rpm, please.
18:50All right, thanks.
18:52The captain needs his icebreaker to give him all the thrust she can muster.
18:57But it won't happen instantly.
19:00It's got to be done in increments to allow the engine to warm up.
19:05In open water, Umiak-1 burns about 35,000 litres of fuel a day.
19:11Ramming through ice, she burns three times that much.
19:17As the engine revs up, the effects are felt even high up on the bridge.
19:21The vibrations that you're feeling is ice going through the propeller.
19:26It's quite common on an icebreaker to feel that.
19:31You get used to it.
19:35Umiak-1 now heads into eastern Canada's inland waters.
19:39It's minus 4 degrees Celsius outside, and 40-knot winds are battering the ship.
19:47Just another day in Labrador, I guess.
19:51Braving the weather, leading seaman Melton Keeping and his crew
19:55head out on deck to make sure everything's still locked down.
19:59OK, boys, check all the latches, make sure everything's all tight.
20:02Anything loose, make sure he tightens it off.
20:05When the cargo's been double-checked, Melton then inspects the ice.
20:10The ship's foredeck is just over 100 metres long,
20:14which means it's difficult for the bridge crew to get a close look.
20:19It's hard to get a true perspective of how thick the ice is
20:22from up here on the bridge, actually looking down on the ice.
20:26Roll bridge.
20:29Yeah, just looking at the ice situation up there.
20:31It looks like it's pretty thick there.
20:34Probably two, three metres, anyway, some of it, when he breaks it up.
20:37Over.
20:38The ice looks like one solid slab, but it's actually a constantly shifting mass.
20:44The ship passed through here only a month ago,
20:47but the crew knows the ice is never the same twice.
20:54Yeah, roger that, yeah.
20:56It's a toll looking at ice sometimes.
20:58Other times you wish you'd never see it again.
21:08On her fourth day at sea,
21:10Umiak Wong gets ready to make one of the most difficult manoeuvres of the entire journey.
21:16OK, I report.
21:20On every trip, she has to finesse her way between whale and skull islands.
21:25There's less than 500 metres breathing room on each side,
21:29and hidden shoals and rocks loom all around her.
21:33You're making the turn and something had to happen with your steering or your main engine.
21:39There's a good chance you're going to go over ground.
21:41Under watchful eyes, Umiak Wong makes the turn as nimbly as a ship half her size.
21:47The reason the ship turns so fast and is so manoeuvrable is because of the size of the rudder.
21:52They placed a very large rudder for ice navigation, so the ship can turn very fast.
22:00Turns on the dime, just look.
22:02Yeah, she's coming around pretty good.
22:0620 starboard.
22:09Captain Rose and Chief Officer Kent Waddleton now begin their next challenge,
22:14trying to follow in their own footsteps.
22:17We have to try as much as possible to stick to our old track in and out.
22:23This may look like empty space, but about 5,000 Inuit call this part of Canada home.
22:30Across this land, on this ice, they hunt for caribou, seals and geese.
22:36They depend on this region for their survival.
22:39So the ship must leave the smallest footprint possible.
22:53Can you see the track?
22:59The track is right here. You can see this is one of the old tracks running along here.
23:08It will be dark in two hours, and following the old track then will be almost impossible.
23:15So to be doing that, leaving the day, and possible hours of darkness,
23:20is just not a risk that we're willing to take.
23:24The nickel mine is just seven hours away.
23:27But sailing on would mean docking in the middle of the night,
23:30and it's hard enough to do by day.
23:33Captain Rose decides to stand down until tomorrow.
23:38I've been up here on the bridge for 12 hours now,
23:41and if we had to continue in, it would be just too long.
23:44We wouldn't get there before daylight anyway,
23:46so we'll shut down and get a fresh kick at the can tomorrow morning.
23:52He leaves the bridge in good hands.
23:54She shouldn't move up a wind like this.
23:57She weighs a damn pretty good, so.
23:59All right? Yep, good now.
24:05With the ship's 30,000 horsepower engine shut down,
24:08the engine crew can take a look inside for any undue wear and tear.
24:16But first, some 13 meters below deck,
24:19the very bottom of the engine must be cleaned.
24:25Engineering cadets Carl Randall and William T
24:28climb inside the massive crankcase for the dirty job of mopping up oil.
24:33That's what the job's all about.
24:35It's a good learning experience, and that's what we're here for.
24:38Yeah, it's really sweltering under.
24:40It's hygienic, and you've got probably an inch and a half of oil
24:43in a lot of spots down there.
24:45You have to be down all around the airport.
24:4830,000 litres of oil lubricate the engine.
24:51The oil drains here, to the bottom of the crankcase,
24:54and then to a sump tank located under the engine.
24:57Then it's filtered, cooled, and circulated back through the engine.
25:03This oil, 30,000 litres, has not changed.
25:06It could be good for the life of the ship.
25:08We take it, we test it, we send it to a lab,
25:11and we look after it through the purification process and filters,
25:14and hopefully we'll never, ever have to change the oil.
25:17With the oil sopped up,
25:19Chief Engineer Garry Smith and his team
25:22are on their way to the oil station.
25:24With the oil sopped up,
25:26Chief Engineer Garry Bishop gets a clear look at the state of the crankcase.
25:30The paint condition gives us indication
25:32if there's been any extra stresses on the engine itself.
25:36If there's any cracks, I look at all the welds.
25:39It's good news. It passes inspection.
25:45The next morning, Captain Rose gets ready to head for the Voiseys Bay mine.
25:50More than $100 million worth of nickel concentrate is waiting there
25:54to be loaded and shipped back to Quebec City.
25:59As soon as we get the engine warmed up now,
26:01we'll take her on bridge control and get going.
26:05Making her way towards the mine,
26:07Umiak-1 leaves a 30-metre-wide trail of broken ice.
26:12That trail cuts the hunting and fishing areas
26:15of the local Inuit people in two,
26:17so the Inuit bridge the gap.
26:24It's important for us to hunt and fish
26:26on the south side of the track and the north side of the track.
26:32As soon as the ship has passed by,
26:34they lay down bridges that float on the newly exposed water.
26:38These are critical to sustaining the Inuit way of life.
26:42These bridges are really important to local travellers, hunters, wooders, fishers.
26:49If it wasn't there, I don't know what we would do.
27:00Five days after leaving Quebec City,
27:02Umiak-1's destination is in sight.
27:06She has sailed here alone,
27:08and now she'll dock alone without any assistance
27:11from tugboats or harbour pilots.
27:14We've got no bow thruster, we can't use the anchor,
27:17and the ice is about 1.3 metres thick.
27:20So you're using 30,000 horsepower really close to the dock
27:23to try and flush the ice to get the ship tied alongside.
27:27Yeah, let me know if she falls one way or another.
27:31To reach the dock, the ship needs to break up the ice, blocking her approach.
27:35Captain Rose changes the engine thrust, a head and a stern, multiple times,
27:40pushing back and forth to clear a path.
27:45Perfect. Keep her out of the way.
27:47We're going to try and keep her out of the way.
27:50We're going to try and keep her out of the way.
27:53We're going to try and keep her out of the way.
27:56Perfect. Keep her out of the way.
27:59The captain's greatest weapon in this battle
28:01is the ship's 46-tonne controllable pitch propeller.
28:06On this kind of propeller, the angle or pitch of the blades can be altered.
28:11When the blades change their pitch, the ship changes direction,
28:15without needing to brake or use a reverse gear.
28:20I'm going to let her come ahead now and flush out a little bit if I can there.
28:24What I've got broke up back here so far.
28:26We'll work the stern back and forth then.
28:28All right, very good.
28:30A ship this big needs time to change direction.
28:35It takes 42 seconds roughly for the pitch to go from full ahead position
28:41to full astern position, so you need to keep that in mind as well
28:44when you're trying to flush the ice close to the dock.
28:48Hello, Kent. I'm just going to make the approach to the dock there now, Kent.
28:52I'll need you on the bow as soon as you can there.
28:56The ship is 189 metres long.
28:59The dock is only half of that, and dangerous shoals lie at each end of it.
29:04Without a bow thruster, the captain has to navigate carefully.
29:13If something had to go wrong, you don't have a lot of room for error.
29:18It can get pretty stressful.
29:21Yeah, we're doing a knot.
29:23Midships!
29:25After an hour-long battle, Umiak-1 finally makes it to the dock.
29:34How's she looking, Kent?
29:36Roger, Cap, we're stopped. We're stationary here.
29:39I'll let you know if she starts to creep ahead.
29:41Roger.
29:42Even a veteran like Captain Rose is relieved at the soft landing.
29:46No injuries, no damage to any equipment.
29:48Didn't touch the dock. Nice and slow, nice and safe.
29:52Mission accomplished for the day.
29:57But as day turns to night, the hard work is far from over.
30:03All right, are we ready to go, boys?
30:07Kent and his team have to unload more than 100 massive containers.
30:12They carry everything from washing machines to potatoes.
30:15Anything needed to keep the nickel mine running.
30:22The ship's cargo is absolutely critical.
30:25The only road up here runs between the pier and the mine.
30:28The outside world is a plane, snowmobile or dog sled ride away.
30:36Okay, slow now, slow.
30:39At three in the morning, the job is only half done.
30:42Hey, Don, I need you to take this off the dock, okay?
30:46Yeah, we've got probably about five hours of discharge left to go.
30:50So the guys are going to keep going to Detroit tonight.
30:53We don't stop here.
30:54Once we get in there and get going,
30:56it's just a 24-hour operation until everything's done.
31:03By dawn, Umiak is almost ready.
31:06By dawn, Umiak is almost unloaded,
31:09and trucks have begun to haul the cargo to the mine.
31:13In this part of Canada, the morning traffic is light.
31:2313 kilometres from the port,
31:25the Voises Bay workers mine one of the planet's most precious metals, nickel.
31:32365 days a year, from frigid winter to blistering summer,
31:37the mine never stops.
31:40This is the reason Umiak-1 was designed and built.
31:44It can travel here year-round, and that's primarily what we need.
31:50In a year, the miners dig up a million tonnes of ore.
31:54From that, they extract around 360,000 tonnes of nickel concentrate.
32:02The annual haul is worth billions of dollars.
32:06And Umiak-1 is at the very heart of this operation.
32:12Everything we produce goes out on Umiak.
32:15Basically, we survive with that boat.
32:19Nickel is used to make stainless steel.
32:22It's precious cargo.
32:24But it can also be very dangerous.
32:27This type of nickel concentrate is self-heating.
32:30If there's too much oxygen in the hold, the nickel could ignite.
32:36To prevent this from happening, nitrogen gas is pumped into the hold.
32:40This displaces the oxygen through a vent in the hatch cover.
32:44No oxygen, no fire.
32:50The first cargo hold has now been filled with nickel concentrate.
32:55It's time to displace the oxygen inside with nitrogen gas.
32:59Down below, the engineers start pumping.
33:05The gas levels will be monitored for the duration of the return journey.
33:13As the loading continues, the captain learns he can't leave the hold.
33:17He has to return to the dock.
33:21As the loading continues, the captain learns he can expect rough seas ahead.
33:26I just got the long-term forecast coming in earlier today.
33:29It looks like by the time we finish up, there's going to be a storm coming up.
33:34So expect another bit of rolling around on the way down.
33:39We're well used to it. Nobody likes it.
33:41But when it happens, we hope for the best.
33:44Forewarned is forearmed.
33:47Umiak-1 and her crew prepare to sail right into a vicious North Atlantic storm.
33:54It's almost four in the morning.
33:56Umiak-1 is fully loaded with more than $100 million worth of nickel concentrate
34:02and is almost ready to depart for Quebec City.
34:05Leaving the dock is a little bit more difficult than actually making the dock.
34:10The moment Captain Dean Rose pulls away from the dock,
34:13he'll be confronted by a dangerous shoal just 200 meters away.
34:17He hopes that by leaving now, during flood tide, he'll have the space he needs to clear it.
34:23Let's see if I can flush out a bit of ice as we come ahead.
34:26The tide is rising now, so it gives us a little bit more water under the keel.
34:30But even with a storm on the way, the captain can't rush.
34:34Speed is the key thing here.
34:36If you're going too fast and you hit the rudder with a huge piece of ice,
34:40then it's possible you could actually damage your rudder and damage the steering.
34:47Once again, Captain Rose relies on his variable pitch propeller
34:51to move his ship back and forth in this tight space.
35:03Captain Rose has pulled away from this dock hundreds of times,
35:07but it never gets any easier.
35:26Free of the dock, Bumiak 1 finds her old track and begins the four-day trip back to Quebec City.
35:34But with a storm ahead, the captain can't let his guard down.
35:39It's a never-ending battle of worry on board.
35:43So, hopefully, lady luck is with us a little bit today,
35:47but I've got a feeling that there's going to be a bit of swell week.
35:51You're not going to outrun it at all.
35:57For the next seven hours, Bumiak enjoys calm seas.
36:04When we get the chance, we always like to come out and see it all at least.
36:08I mean, it's a beautiful day out and there's no windows down the engine, I'll tell you that.
36:18On the bridge, the captain is still thinking about what lies beyond the ice.
36:22As soon as we get outside of the edge, I've got a feeling that it's really going to turn nasty.
36:27I can see the cloud cover just off the horizon.
36:30There's a little small beast there going on the board, Captain.
36:35As Bumiak 1 heads into open water, the crew braces for the waiting storm.
36:45On day two of the return voyage, a message comes through from head office.
36:49First job is to prepare the ballast tanks.
36:52He wants to confirm the location of a sensor in the ballast tank.
36:56Bumiak 1 is scheduled to undergo special maintenance back in Quebec City,
37:01and the repair crew will need to know exactly where this sensor is located.
37:08So we're not going to get a chance to do it tomorrow, the weather's not great today.
37:12But this is the only time we're going to get a chance to do it.
37:18The captain and chief officer Kent Waddleton prepare to descend the 16 metres to the floor of the tank.
37:24Equipped with gas detectors, emergency breathing devices, a first aid kit and extra lights.
37:30If either man is injured or passes out, he'll have to be carried up several ladders from the confined space below.
37:37A tough assignment, especially in this weather.
37:40We've got seas coming over on the port side right now,
37:43and if they start rushing over on this side, we're going to get wet,
37:47and water's going to come in through, so we've got to get this done.
37:52For the crew on deck, there's nothing to do but wait and hope nothing goes wrong below.
38:01The floor is slippery, the ladders are ice cold, and the ship is rolling hard.
38:08The centre is between web frame 135 and 136, and he is...
38:1530 centimetres, 30 centimetres from web frame 136.
38:2330 centimetres from 136.
38:26It's time to get back on deck, before the weather gets even worse.
38:30Let's get our clothes up, boys.
38:32It was borderline, borderline to get done today, so I'm glad it's done and over with.
38:36I don't think we'll be doing the other side today.
38:38No, definitely not. With the rolling and the swell, it's making it too slippery and too dangerous to be down there.
38:47But despite the rough seas, there's still work to be done, and one job is critical.
38:54The oxygen and nitrogen levels in the cargo holds have to be checked.
38:58Once again, Kent does the honours.
39:06If the oxygen level is too high, the nickel concentrate in the hold could catch fire.
39:14There are four different cargo holds.
39:16If the oxygen level is too high, the nickel concentrate in the hold could catch fire.
39:22There are four different cargo holds to be checked, and Kent has to get the job done before nightfall.
39:28Moving around a wet deck in the dark is too dangerous.
39:40Plugging into the first sensor port, Kent's gas detector reads the oxygen level.
39:45Anything over 8% is cause for concern.
39:49This reading is safe, just under 3%.
39:56Kent is now joined by seaman Eddie Blackmore.
40:09But in cargo hold 5, the oxygen level is pushing the limit.
40:15Kent suspects a leak in one of the nitrogen lines that should be displacing the oxygen.
40:21He's right.
40:26He calls the engine room to have the escaping gas turned off.
40:35This gives the repair crew time to deal with the problem before it gets too serious.
40:41For the moment, there's enough nitrogen in the hold to last until the line can be fixed tomorrow.
41:01It takes a tough breed to work in these conditions.
41:10You're here all day long, you're plowing around. Some people's cut out first, some people's not.
41:15This is where we're sailors.
41:22What's wrong with this? A little bit of swell coming over.
41:25What's wrong with it, though?
41:27This is what she's made for, this is what it's all about.
41:29This is where you come as a sailor, makes a sailor out of a sailor.
41:33Makes a man out of you.
41:41On day five of the return, Quebec City beckons on the horizon.
41:47It's always a good feeling, knowing that you're in port, safe and sound.
41:52Cargo's all good, no damages to the ship or the cargo, so...
41:57Mission complete.
42:00It's always a good feeling, knowing that you're in port, safe and sound.
42:03Cargo's all good, no damages to the ship or the cargo, so...
42:07Mission complete.
42:11There's just time for a crew photo.
42:19They don't complain, they've got to work in sub-zero temperatures all the time, a 12-hour day.
42:25It's a tough job, it really is, but they seem to do it and more so enjoy it.
42:34It's a good feeling to be on the ship where the crew are happy and motivated and the job is getting done.
42:41In Quebec City, Umiak-1 will unload 30,000 tonnes of nickel concentrate, worth over 100 million dollars.
42:53Then she'll load up once again, for the next voyage to the mine.
42:59No matter what the weather throws at her, the world's most powerful ice-breaking bulk carrier will continue to do the one job for which she was built.
43:07Keeping this remote corner of Canada alive.
43:37.