Thick sea ice is hampering shipping in the Canadian Arctic.

A cargo ship made it to Resolute Bay, Nunavut this weekend after being anchored for four days due to thick sea ice.

The Rosaire A. Desgagnés dropped its anchor on Saturday about 18 kilometres from the Nunavut hamlet. It sat there until Wednesday when it was unloaded.

The success was likely welcome news for Waguih Rayes, general manager of Desgagnés Transarctik Inc., which oversees several Arctic ships as the managing partner for Nunavut Sealink and Supply Inc.

An unusual amount of ice and a swamped coast guard made Arctic shipping more difficult than usual this year, according to Rayes. He told CBC that he was recently on a morning phone briefing with Canadian Coast Guard representatives, and that the agency said it is “busy everywhere… [and] they don’t have enough boats to provide the level of service required.”