Port of Sept-Îles and INREST welcome a research icebreaker

The Port of Sept-Îles and the Northern Institute for Research in Environment and Occupational Health and Safety (INREST) welcomed the Canadian Coast Guard’s research icebreaker Amundsen in early March. The Amundsen harbours the Odyssée Saint-Laurent research program’s third winter oceanography mission, collecting strategically important data on the St. Lawrence Estuary’s ecosystem during winter months.

On March 6th, lead investigator Jean Carlos Montero-Serrano went ashore briefly with his 25-member research team from a dozen institutions, including INREST, to meet local stakeholders and the media for a quick rundown of the mission’s objectives.

They included sampling at locations within the Port of Sept-Îles waters. Those samples will yield strategic winter results to complement the data already collected by the Bay of Sept-Îles Environmental Observatory.

The Sept-Îles region is nationally and internationally recognized for maritime research, thanks to the tremendous amount of high‑quality data generated by INREST and its partners. The mission, which concluded March 14, was organized by Réseau Québec maritime, Quebec’s maritime network encompassing 166 academic and research institutions within the province to share technological and other knowledge for sustainable marine development.

The Port of Sept-Îles is a Green Marine certified participant and INREST is a supporter.