(Montreal) The Cypriot ship which ran aground on Christmas Eve on the St. Lawrence River, in the Verchères sector, in Montérégie, was still stuck on Saturday, the refloating attempt the day before having not worked.
Posted at 10:10 a.m.
An operation to try to free the MV MACCOA was launched Friday morning, mobilizing three tugboats and an agent from the environmental and maritime hazards response team of the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG).
This attempt, however, did not “make it possible to significantly improve the condition of the ship in order to allow a refloating,” indicated Saturday morning Kariane Charron, team leader of the Regional Communications Directorate, Quebec, of the CCG.
The teams decided late Friday evening not to continue refloating operations the next day.
“The ship’s owner and other experts will explore other options aimed at unloading part of the cargo in order to facilitate the refloating of the ship,” said Mr.me Charron.
The boat ran aground on December 24 due to a widespread power outage, the cause of which is not yet known.
Twenty members of the crew were on board the ship at the time of the incident. None of them had been injured. The boat had also not suffered any damage and no pollution had been observed in the surrounding area.
Generators, heating systems and other supplies were delivered to the ship on the evening of December 24. The boat, however, managed to run its own generators and restore power shortly after.
The Canadian Coast Guard also reported that the position of the MV MACCOA had no direct consequences on maritime traffic. A notice to slow down speed had nevertheless been put in place for boats sailing in the area.
Canada
