CLEVELAND, Ohio – A coordinated effort by the U.S. Coast Guard and others to free a Canadian-flagged ship that ran aground in the St. Lawrence Seaway more than a week ago has so far been unsuccessful.
After an underwater survey was conducted, three tugs tried to pull the Motor Vessel Tim S. Dool free on Friday, but were unsuccessful.
The Dool was carrying grain when it became stuck in U.S. waters near Massena, New York, on Nov. 23. Nobody was reported hurt in the incident, which is still under investigation.
The ship, which is stable, is mired in the river bed outside the navigation channel and traffic has not been interrupted, although it has been slowed in the vicinity of the ship. There have been no reports of oil or fuel spilling into the river, said Lt. Phillip Gurtler of the U.S. Coast Guard in Cleveland.
The plan now is to remove some of the ship’s cargo, a process called “lightering,” Gurtler said, to see if it can be refloated. If that’s the case, brief closures of the waterway could occur.
The ship was on its way to Quebec City “when it stranded on the Crysler Island Shoal,” according to a Nov. 23 post on shipwrecklog.com. “The bow is firmly on the shoal and the bulk carrier developed a slight list to port.”
The Canadian Coast Guard, Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. and the National Response Corp. have been working together to free the ship, which is outside of the navigation channel.
Peter Krouse writes about the environment for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. He can be reached at pkrouse@cleveland.com.