The Town of Channel-Port aux Basques strives to provide an exceptional quality of living in an environment based on opportunity, prosperity and safety. The Town fosters positive support for a diversified economy through business investment and upholds the commitment to being the Gateway to the island of Newfoundland for Industry, Transportation and Tourism.
The harbour of Channel-Port aux Basques has been used for major shipping since 1898. For over 100 years, the harbour has been continually developed to provide access for larger ships that are importing goods to Newfoundland and Labrador.
Channel-Port aux Basques’ medium sized, natural ice free harbour is used primarily by the shipping industry, but also hosts Canadian Coast Guard vessels, oil tankers and cruise ships.
Being a strategically located ice free harbour, the community has worldwide connections with direct access to major ocean shipping lanes and companies offering direct access to mainland Canada through the ferry system the Town hosts. If your markets are across the Atlantic Ocean, Newfoundland and Labrador is 1,000km closer to Europe than any other part of North America – saving time and money on your transatlantic experience.
Marine Atlantic is the main shipping company operating from the harbour. In addition to the current infrastructure, there is 200ha of undeveloped industrial land on the eastern side of the harbour available for future development. This area is accessible by road from Route 470. There is also an industrial facility on 12ha of industrial land, with harbour frontage, immediately adjacent to the Marine Atlantic property.
Channel-Port aux Basques is the entry point to the island of Newfoundland. It is estimated that 90% of perishable goods enter through the gateway port. This large volume of annual traffic provides great opportunities for tourism, distribution, servicing and transportation services.
Marine Atlantic Ferry Highlights:
Number of Sailings: 1680
Passengers: 323,859
Passenger Vehicles: 126,766
Commercial Vehicles: 89,783
On-Time Performance: 94.7%
Being the nearest Newfoundland community to Nova Scotia and mainland Canada, the Town has the advantage of being the last point of exit for any exported goods and first point for imported goods. This is ideal for manufacturing to cut on transportation costs shipping to mainland Canada. The Town’s location also enables it to capitalize on any developments within the Gulf of St. Lawrence, West Coast or South Coast of Newfoundland. Also our direct link to the Trans Canada Highway provides access to nearby airports. Channel-Port aux Basques has been a site of interest for energy companies in the last year for hydrogen, ammonia and especially wind energy since our area has some of the strongest winds recorded in Canada. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your business interest in our strategic location.
The harbour of Channel-Port aux Basques has been used for major shipping since 1898. For the past 112 years, the harbour has been continually developed to provide access for larger ships that import goods to Newfoundland and Labrador.
Marine Atlantic is the sole shipping company operating from the harbour, with the Canadian Coast Guard, oil tankers, cruise ships, and other occasional shipping companies harbouring. The harbour is equipped with 10 deep water docks that vary in length and depth to accommodate ships of various specifications. The harbour has an approximate water depth of 10 meters, with harbour channel width of 55 meters, and an inner harbour turning radius of 270 meters.
The Town has ownership to undeveloped land on the eastern side of the harbour that is ideally suited for future development. An outer harbour also exists that may be well suited for specific transportation developments.
Specifications & Information
• Marked harbour entrance 55m wide
• Outer harbour approx. 1.2 km long (SE to NW) by 1.0 km wide
• Two breakwaters at NW end of outer harbour to protect inner harbour
• Inner harbour approx. 2 km long (SW to NE) by 0.7 km wide
• Four wharfs owned & operated by Marine Atlantic Inc.
• 8 timber crib wharfs owned & operated by Port Authority
Current User Ships
• MV Blue Puttees/Highlanders: 199.5m length; 6m draft
• Ala’Suinu: 203m length, 6.45m draft
• MV Leif Ericsson: 157m length; 5.515m draft
Marine Atlantic Docks
• Coastal Dock: 195m length; 7.5m depth
• Carson Dock: 121 length; 7.5m depth
• Former Fish Plant Dock: 70m length; 7m depth
