Sisimiut-Harbour-lisa-germany

The Port of Sisimiut

In a country where the economy revolves around fishing, where almost everything is imported, and where people value being in nature, Greenland’s ports carry much of its lifeblood.

My office is upstairs in the ship repair building at Sisimiut’s fishing harbour, so I pass by almost every day. I’m always curious what’s happening – mostly in the fishing and commercial harbours, but also at the cruise and leisure docks. Which ships are in. What’s in dry dock. Which birds are around. Whether the hunters and fishers have had success.

I began documenting these observations as I passed by each day – taking photos and making notes that became haiku or haibun. While this is still how I’m creating much of this project, I now also go exploring even without a reason to be there, often bringing my field recording equipment.

The project is an exploration of the beating heart of Greenland, seen from the edges by an Australian living in the Arctic.

The Shipping News

The Mary Arctica was the first to appear this morning, her red hull and white superstructure briefly disappearing behind the fuel tanks at 6:17 a.m.

As she reappeared on her way to the cargo port, a small open boat passed in the opposite direction: two men, probably heading out to fish or check crab traps. Over the next few hours, I sat by my living room window, reading about Knud Rasmussen’s three-year journey across the Arctic, and counted eight more, likely with the same intent.

At 6:34 a.m., the Polar Nataanaq, a mid-sized trawler in Polar Seafood’s blue and white livery, sailed out, perhaps trying to stay ahead of Royal Greenland’s M/tr Avataq, a much larger trawler that followed at 6:53.

It wasn’t until 7:20 that I spotted what looked like a recreational craft, likely bound for a summer hut or a remote corner of one of the nearby fjords. During my typical slow start to Sunday, I counted sixteen more, each one tiny beside the first cruise ship to arrive.

Right on schedule, the MS Fridtjof Nansen (named for the first explorer to cross the Greenland ice sheet) slowed as she approached the harbour entrance, preparing to dock at 8:00 a.m. Behind her, Quark Expedition’s Ultramarine waited, ready to anchor and tender its passengers ashore.

Just after nine, with the last sip of my second cup and Rasmussen’s long journey set aside for now, I spotted my final vessel. The Sarfaq Ittuk, Greenland’s only passenger ferry, sailed into view. Red and white, steady in the calm bay, she passed the island of Sallinguit and turned south, bound for Nuuk. Much smaller than the cruise ships, but more constant.

just past the headland
churning the mirrored ocean
a raft of ringed seals