Royal Canadian Navy’s HMCS Nanaimo completed a successful deployment on Operation NANOOK, Canada’s largest annual Arctic sovereignty mission.
Nanaimo made the 3875 nautical mile journey north from its home port of Esquimalt, BC to Nunavut and along the way became the first west coast ship to sail past the Arctic Circle since 1949. The ship also became the first RCN vessel to sail in all three territorial waters during the seven-week trip.
While in the north, Nanaimo conducted a number of activities, including training with the US Coast Guard. The ship also visited several local communities and hosted 90 residents from the village of Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, for a community day event onboard the ship.
This year’s edition of Operation NANOOK ran from August 16 to 30. It included the participation of four Royal Canadian Navy ships and was based out of Inuvik, Northwest Territories, with safety and security events taking place in a number of northern communities.
[mappress mapid=”16917″]
Image: Canadian Navy