Ship grounded in Kahnawake : The Transportation Safety Board is investigating

Following the grounding of the Dutch bulk carrier Heemskerkgracht in the Seaway near Kahnawake a fortnight ago, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) sent a team of investigators to gather information and assess the incident.

Translation Amanda Bennett

The TSB investigates the circumstances of an incident ‘when there is a high probability that such an investigation will enhance transportation safety in Canada and reduce the risks to persons, property or the environment’, it stated on August 27, upon dispatching its investigators.

Their investigation will consist of three stages: field work, examination and analysis, and the production of a report.

Seaway blocked

The vessel Heemskerkracht, which was transporting scrap metal, was travelling up the Seaway Canal to make a U-turn in Lake Saint-Louis when it suffered engine failure just as it was about to re-enter the canal at Kahnawake. It then ran aground at a 45-degree angle.

‘It's like you're in a narrow bathtub and you're stuck on one of the walls,’ said Jean Aubry-Morin, spokesman for the Seaway Management Corporation.

The blockage of the cargo ship brought shipping traffic to a standstill for several days. In all, nearly twenty ships were unable to use the Seaway during this period. The situation was made all the more critical by the fact that it occurred at a time when a rail dispute was raging, preventing any goods from being transported on certain rail lines.

The operation to refloat the vessel took place less than 48 hours later. Two tugs escorted it to the Sainte-Catherine lock to check its condition, before it resumed its journey to its final destination, Spain. None of the crew was injured.

(with Audrey Leduc-Brodeur and Valérie Lessard)