Authorities are looking for the mysterious owner of a boat that ran aground in the Richelieu River more than two weeks ago, who still hasn’t claimed him.
The 28-foot boat ran aground during the launching process at the municipal wharf in Saint-Basile-le-Grand on July 26, without the owner notifying anyone.
Nautical patrol officers from the Richelieu-Saint-Laurent Intermunicipal Police Board discovered the wreckage shortly after and contacted Transport Canada, which has authority in the matter.
Federal department officials dispatched to the scene concluded that the boat posed a potential hazard to navigation.
The call for tenders aimed at finding a company capable of pulling such a boat out of the water ended on August 5th. The City of Saint-Basile-le-Grand hopes that the operation will be carried out without too much delay.
“The wreck will be taken out of the water and dismantled soon, but the exact date has not yet been determined,” said Frédérica Dupuis, spokesperson for Transport Canada.
Owner
Such a maneuver to get out of the water generates costs for Transport Canada, which are normally reimbursed by the owner of the boat.
However, it is impossible to know who owns the boat in question, since its registrations are not in order.
However, it was not reported stolen, according to the police force in the region.
“If the owner cannot be found, the costs will be absorbed by Transport Canada’s Navigation Protection Program,” says Ms.me Dupuis.
In the meantime, the curious who stroll through Prudent-Robert Park can see the bow of the boat, still attached to the wharf.
Unusual
“I’ve lived in Saint-Basile-le-Grand for 48 years and this is the first time I’ve seen something like this,” says the mayor of the municipality, Yves Lessard.
According to him, it was quite unusual to see such a large boat docking at the wharf in his city, which tends to welcome small and medium-sized boats.
Other boaters can, however, continue to use the part of the wharf that is not occupied by the wreckage, while the Canadian Coast Guard has assessed the risk of pollution for this incident as low.
“However, it is not excluded that a small quantity of fuel could have escaped”, supports Mme Dupuis.