Royal Wagenborg said its ice-strengthened general cargo ship Thamesborg, a Dutch-flagged vessel of about 173 m and 21,359 dwt with ice class 1A, grounded in Franklin Strait during a Northwest Passage transit from Lianyungang, China, to Baie-Comeau, Québec.
The company reported no injuries and no pollution, stating: “There are no injuries to crew and no pollution occurred as a result of the incident. Fuel tanks of the vessel and its cargo holds are all intact.”
It added the ship “remains aground in a stable condition” and that salvage assistance has been arranged. The Canadian Coast Guard said on Sunday the vessel “has flooded in multiple ballast tanks,” with no flooding in fuel tanks or cargo hold, confirmed no injuries or pollution, and noted the light icebreaker CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier is providing assistance by fast rescue craft and helicopter, with the medium icebreaker CCGS Jean Goodwill expected to join.
JRCC Trenton said the ship “appears to be stable, and has remained so through several changes of tide,” and that the search-and-rescue phase is “for now, resolved.”
Tracking data and local authorities indicated 16 people are on board. The vessel was due in Baie-Comeau on September 15 and is carrying carbon blocks for industrial use, according to the operator.
Authorities and the owner are working on a refloating plan. Costs associated with mitigation and any remediation fall to the vessel owner under Canadian rules, according to the Coast Guard’s description of responsibilities.
Royal Wagenborg is a Netherlands-based maritime logistics company established in 1898 and family-owned, operating a large multipurpose fleet that includes ice-class vessels and employing several thousand people.
Canadian Coast Guard is a Canada’s federal maritime service responsible for Search and Rescue coordination support, environmental response, and assistance to navigation; it deploys government icebreakers and rescue craft.
JRCC Trenton is a Canadian Joint Rescue Coordination Center that oversees aeronautical and maritime SAR tasking in its region.