The Canadian Coast Guard says a refloating attempt will take place Friday morning after a ship carrying corn experienced a power outage and remained stuck in the St. Lawrence River, just north of Montreal, since the day before Christmas.
The CCG indicated in an update Friday morning that it had received a refloating plan from the shipowner which was validated with the partners involved in the situation, including Transport Canada.
“The CCG has mobilized a team to monitor operations with drones, as well as with a helicopter, weather conditions permitting,” said a CCG spokesperson, specifying that an officer from the team Environmental and marine risk intervention would also be on board the ship. .
A team of three tugboats from Groupe Océan will help refloat the ship, the spokesperson said.
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On December 24 at around 1:15 a.m., the CCG was informed that the MV MACCOA, a Cyprus-flagged bulk carrier, had “run aground in the Verchères area following a widespread power outage.” The ship carrying corn had left Montreal around midnight on Christmas Eve and was heading to Waterford, Ireland.
The cause of the outage is unknown. There were no injuries on board, no damage to the ship’s hull and no pollution as a result, the CCG said.
Later that evening, the CCG said generators, heaters and other supplies had been delivered to the ship, which was capable of operating on its own generator, and power had been restored on board.
On Christmas Day, ship representatives and other experts boarded the vessel to help assess the situation and create a plan to refloat the MV MACCOA, the CCG said.
“The holiday period has an impact on the availability of staff from various contractors and partners to remedy the situation,” said the CCG spokesperson.
The following day, Boxing Day, the CCG said the situation on board the ship remained stable with a crew of 20 on board.
The CCG said the grounded vessel had no impact on maritime traffic. A “slow speed” advisory was in effect in the area.
The refloating attempt will take place at 11 a.m. Friday, the CCG said.
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