(Sarah Rogers/Nunatsiaq News Online, 12 July 2011) -- Officials say Nunavut’s new research vessel, the MV Nuliajuk, will provide a much-needed boost to the territory’s fishing industry. Not to mention that the 64-foot Nuliajuk is a beauty. Territorial and community leaders and elders gathered aboard the Nuliajuk July 11, to christen the floating fisheries research station as it lay anchored off Iqaluit.

Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak threw a bottle of sparkling water against the ship’s hull to christen it. Maritime tradition says that a bottle of champagne must be smashed against the hull of a new vessel; if the bottle doesn’t break, the vessel will have bad luck.

“To see it all done – it’s incredible,” said Nunavut’s environment minister, Daniel Shewchuk, as he later toured the Nuliajuk with Ivan Oxford, the ship’s captain. “Time will tell, but I think it’ll have a very good benefit on our fisheries and enhance resources for all Nunavummiut,” Shewchuk said. The Nuliajuk will help Nunavut learn more about its potential resources as well as the environmental factors influencing the health of its fisheries, Oxford said.

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