A stranded ship is completely blocking traffic on the St. Lawrence Seaway near Kahnawake.
THE Heemskerkgrachtan ocean-going vessel flying the Dutch flag, ran aground Thursday evening around 6:30 p.m. on the dike at the entrance to the South Shore Canal, which runs around the Lachine Rapids and the greater Montreal area.
On Friday, it was still stuck, occupying the entire length of the canal perpendicularly.
According to Jean Aubry-Morin, spokesperson for the St. Lawrence Seaway, the ship lost control of its engines as it entered the western entrance to the canal. The mechanical failure caused the boat to lose its “directional ability” and run aground on the shore. The cause of the failure is unknown at this time.
This is a “solid grounding,” which requires the intervention of tugs to be dislodged. Teams are currently on their way to refloat it, according to Jean Aubry-Morin, who specifies that “no damage to the environment or injuries to the crew are to be deplored.”
As of Friday, six ships were at forced standstill around Montreal due to the incident. That number could climb to “12 or 14” by noon Saturday, when the ship should have been freed, according to the Seaway’s estimates.
To move it, experts will have to unload the ship’s bow of ballast water and fuel.
“We move the load inside the hull so that the nose of the ship is lighter and we are then able to move it,” illustrates Jean Aubry-Morin. Before continuing on its route, the Heemskerkgracht will need to be taken to an inspection point to determine if repairs are required.
The ship, which was heading to Huelva, Spain, is loaded with scrap metal. The behemoth, which is 138 metres long and 21 metres wide, has a loading capacity of between 12,000 and 14,000 tonnes. It has around twenty crew members.
This type of incident, which is reminiscent of the accident on Ever Givena supercargo that blocked the Suez Canal for 6 days in spring 2021, is “very rare,” said Jean Aubry-Morin. “Out of 4,000 transits last year, we only had one similar case.”
More than 200 million tonnes of goods are transported on the St. Lawrence Seaway every year.
The grounding comes at a time when maritime freight transport is emerging as an alternative to rail transport, which is threatened by labour disputes at the country’s two largest railway companies, Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) and Canadian National Railway Company (CN).