? How to use this page
How to use a buyer page
- Who this buyer is, then who already holds positions here and what it is tendering.
- Click Watch and every change lands in your weekly digest.
- How to sell here — the route in, thresholds, portals and contacts — opens with this market's edition.
Marine Transportation Services
Every fact on this page is free. Exact values, dates, award detail and the procurement route open in the Canada edition — one edition is free with one email. Open your free edition · Open this record in the Atlas
- Type
- Other — Territorial government division (Department of Infrastructure) -- barge and tugboat freight and fuel carrier on the Mackenzie River, Great Slave Lake and the Arctic coast; carried here because its own published description states its Hay River terminal is connected to southern Canada by the country's northern-most railhead
- Market · Region
- Canada · Northwest Territories
- Open tenders
- 0
Government marine division operating eight tugboats and terminals moving cargo and petroleum products in Northwest Territories.
About this buyer
Read more
A division of the Government of the Northwest Territories' Department of Infrastructure, formed in 2017 after the GNWT purchased the marine assets (shallow-draft high-horsepower tugboats, barges, land-based loading and storage equipment, a loading terminal, shipyard, Syncrolift and maintenance facility) of the territory's previous private marine operator, which had gone out of business. MTS operates a fleet of eight tugboats moving deck cargo and bulk petroleum products from its Hay River head office and terminal to communities on the Mackenzie River, the Western Arctic coast and Nunavut's Kitikmeot region, with freight handling terminals also at Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk. MTS is not a railway and has no rail mandate; it is carried because its own published description states its Hay River terminal is connected to southern Canada by the country's northern-most railhead -- the terminus of the line the Canadian Transportation Agency's own records show CN operated, and over which CN's operating authority lapsed with a notice of discontinuance effective 28 October 2025. That notice does not say whether the physical track was removed, sold or left in place unserved, and MTS's own page continues to describe the railhead connection as current; this file records both without reconciling them. MTS publishes no rail-specific procurement of its own; its Hay River harbour was dredged in 2023-24 under a roughly $15,000,000 GNWT-led project (federal and territorial funding), a marine, not rail, investment.
- Type
- Other — Territorial government division (Department of Infrastructure) -- barge and tugboat freight and fuel carrier on the Mackenzie River, Great Slave Lake and the Arctic coast; carried here because its own published description states its Hay River terminal is connected to southern Canada by the country's northern-most railhead
- Where
- Northwest Territories · Hay River
Withheld in the free surface
- Procurement structure
- Award history (0)
- Entry path
- Portals (3)
- Published contacts (2)
Full detail withheld: 5 fields. In the Canada edition · See a fully open example
7 sources · all primary
- ● Government of the Northwest Territories · Marine Transportation Services -- "Marine Transportation Services (MTS) is your solution to move deck cargo and bulk petroleum products to communities along the Mackenzie River and Western Arctic coastal communities. Operated by the Government of the Northwest Territories since 2017, MTS operates a fleet of eight high-powered shallow draft tugboats..." History: "The GNWT purchased the marine assets of the previous operator in 2016. These assets included shallow-draft high horsepower tugboats, barges, land-based loading and storage equipment, a loading terminal, shipyard, Syncrolift and maintenance facility... After this purchase, MTS was formed as a division under the GNWT's Department of Infrastructure. The first MTS sailing season took place in 2017." Assets: "The head office, main terminal and shipyards for MTS are located in Hay River, NWT on the shore of Great Slave Lake. MTS' main terminal in Hay River is connected to southern Canada by the country's northern-most railhead and by a paved highway from Alberta." Contact: Marine Transportation Services, Terminal 'C' Freight Yard, 42003 Mackenzie Highway, Hay River, NT; Toll-Free 1-844-574-2023; 867-874-2023; Fax: 867-874-2651; customerservicedesk@marinetransport.ca. (published 2026 · checked 2026-09-22)
- ● Government of the Northwest Territories · About INF -- "The Department of Infrastructure (INF), as part of the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT), is responsible for: Disposal of surplus property and goods; Environmental impact assessment/regulatory review and approval; Information management and technology; Marine Transportation Services; Mechanical/electrical regulatory services; Motor and vehicle services; Planning, design, construction, acquisition, operation and maintenance of public buildings and transportation infrastructure and systems; Programming aimed at energy conservation and efficiency and reducing energy costs in the Northwest Territories; Property management; Remediation of public infrastructure; and Strategic planning of public transportation infrastructure and energy production and distribution systems." No reference to railways appears anywhere on the page. (published 2026 · checked 2026-09-22)
- ● Government of the Northwest Territories · Department of Infrastructure, Programs and Services index -- full list: Airports; Boilers and Pressure Vessels; Community Access Program; Driver and Vehicle Services; Electrical Systems; Elevators and Lifts; Energy; Facilities and Properties; Fuel Services; Gas Protection; Highway Conditions Map - DriveNWT; Highways, Ferries, and Winter Roads; Marine Transportation Services ("Reliable cargo transportation on the Mackenzie River and Arctic Ocean supply route."); and Sale and Donation of Surplus Goods. No railway or rail programme appears in this index. (published 2026 · checked 2026-09-22)
- ● Government of the Northwest Territories · Hay River Harbour Restoration Project -- "an initiative to improve navigation in Hay River Harbour by removing excess sediment... The harbour is a vital marine supply hub, supporting Marine Transportation Services, the Canadian Coast Guard, commercial fishing, and the public." Funding and Support: "The GNWT received $3 million in support from Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada and $5 million from Transport Canada's Oceans Protection Plan for the harbour restoration work. The balance of the project costs, approximately $7 million dollars, was funded by the GNWT." (published 2026 · checked 2026-09-22)
- ● Government of the Northwest Territories · Department of Finance -- Current Opportunities and Awarded Contracts: "The GNWT Contract Event Opportunities website is available at contracts.fin.gov.nt.ca. Go directly to the site to register as a bidder, view or bid on events, or manage your existing bids." Describes bidder registration, matching a company's 'Full Legal Company Name' against the 'GNWT Business Incentive Policy registry'. (published 2026 · checked 2026-09-22)
- ● Canadian Transportation Agency · Notices of rail line discontinuance -- "Notices of discontinuance received by the Agency under Section 146 of the Canada Transportation Act since July 1, 1996." Newest table row: Effective Date 2025-10-28 | Railway CN | From Outside Enterprise | To Hay River | Mileage From 354.00 | Mileage To 376.20 | Total Mileage 22.20 | Province(s) Northwest Territories. This is the complete historical list; the Hay River row is the newest entry and no later notice supersedes it. (published 2025-10-28 · checked 2026-09-22)
- ● Department of Justice Canada · Canada Transportation Act, consolidated -- section 146: "If a railway company has complied with the process set out in sections 143 to 145, but an agreement for the sale, lease or other transfer of the railway line or an interest in it is not entered into through that process, the railway company may discontinue operating the line on providing notice of the discontinuance to the Agency." Section 143 requires the company to publicly advertise the line for sale, lease or other transfer for continued operation, giving interested parties at least 60 days from first publication to make their interest known in writing. Filing the section 146 notice is the act that authorises the company to stop operating the line, not merely an announcement of a future step. (published 2026 · checked 2026-09-22)
Browse: the Atlas · Canada · players · events
Compiled by Watchtower to editorial standards the Managing Partner sets and enforces. Public record only — every datum carries its source.