Lake freighter runs aground

One of the largest freighters on the Great Lakes ran aground less than a kilometre from the Thousand Islands Bridge near Gananoque yesterday afternoon.

The Canada Steamship Lines vessel Niagara, a 222-metre-long bulk carrier, lost control of its steering while approaching the American Narrows stretch of the St. Lawrence Seaway, near Alexandria Bay, just after 1 p.m.

It ran aground off St. Helena Island, a small island just east of the southern span of the international bridge.

Although a hole was ripped in the hull of the freighter during the grounding, it wasn’t considered serious and the freighter was able to refloat itself while waiting for Coast Guard officials to inspect the damage and judge whether the vessel was fit to resume its journey.

"It was basically minor damage," said Annie Pare, speaking for CSL.

"No one was hurt and there were no spills that would cause an environmental problem."

She said the hole was in the forepeak area of the ship, an empty space in the front of the vessel that’s used for holding cargo or for trimming the ship.

The ship went aground in American waters so it was the U.S. Coast Guard that launched a fast boat to the scene, and then followed up with its inspectors, said Coast Guard spokesman Dave Mergenthaler.

He said the ship was carrying a load of coke, a coal byproduct used in making steel, and didn’t spill any cargo or fuel into the water after running aground.

"It had a soft grounding, and although it did have a hole in the forepeak that filled with some water, they turned the pumps on and cleared it," he said.

No one was injured in the grounding and the Seaway wasn’t closed to other vessels.

The ship sent out a call on its radio alerting authorities to its grounding at about 1:15 p.m., and immediately afterwards a number of citizens who heard the call went out in their boats to take a look and to offer assistance.

The cause of the grounding wasn’t clear last night but will be investigated by the Coast Guard.

"It suffered a steering casualty but the cause for the whole thing is under investigation," said Mergenthaler.

Investigators were on scene by 5 p.m. to evaluate the damage. The vessel could be cleared to go overnight if the damage was judged not severe enough to impair its ability to travel safely.

The Canadian Transportation Safety Board, which investigates accidents involving federally regulated transport in this country, said it wouldn’t be conducting an investigation because the incident happened in American waters.

Federal records show no previous accidents or groundings involving the Canadian-flagged ship.

The ship started life as the J.W. McGiffin in 1972. It was enlarged in 1998 when the Seaway increased the size of vessels it could accommodate and became the first "SeawayMax" vessel to travel the St. Lawrence. It can carry 34,938 tons of cargo.

The last major grounding of a ship in this area happened in 1999, when water levels were at historic lows and the 160-metre long Bahamian-registered Sunny Blossom hit bottom on the southeast tip of Wolfe Island with a cargo of caustic soda.

The ship had some of its cargo transferred to another ship to lighten it and was pulled out of the mud by tugs several days later. The ship ran aground near Cornwall just two months later, and in 2002 was crippled by an engine-room fire off the coast of Algeria.

In August 2003, before he became prime minister, Paul Martin formally transferred control of CSL to his three sons after MPs raised concerns over potential conflicts of interest.