Crews to attempt refloating stuck St. Lawrence River cargo ship Monday

The Tim S. Dool in the St. Lawrence River on Nov. 25, 2024. The ship ran aground and has been stuck since Saturday. (Jack Richardson/CTV News Ottawa)

Marine crews will attempt to refloat a 225-metre cargo ship on Monday, three weeks after it got stuck in the St. Lawrence River.

A spokesperson for the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation says lightering operations are expected to conclude Sunday evening and an attempt to refloat the Tim S. Dool will start Monday during daylight hours.

Crews started offloading cargo from the vessel on Thursday to facilitate dislodging it from the ground. The boat was carrying a load of wheat grain in U.S. waters when it ran aground, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard says they will have to close a portion of the Seaway for several hours once refloating operations begin.

U.S. and Canadian officials say they are working closely to minimize disruption to the maritime transportation system and ensure direct communication with commercial vessels that may be impacted in the area of the vessel.

The 57-year-old bulk carrier ran aground near Morrisburg, Ont. on Nov. 23. Previous attempts to dislodge the boat using tugboats have been unsuccessful.

The boat remains outside the navigation channel and no injuries or environmental damage have been reported. 

Sal Mercogliano, host of What's Going on with Shipping on YouTube, says its not uncommon for ships to touch the bottom of the St. Lawrence but the Tim S. Dool situation is more unique.

"In the case of the Dool, this ship is fully aground from bow to stern and usually you don't get ships that are aground in this sort of condition," he said.

"This is an issue that we don't know exactly what the root cause of this is. Usually there's only two things that explain accidents on ships. It's either a human error or a mechanical error."

He adds that the situation could have economic consequences down the line if the boat isn't dislodged soon.

"When you lose a ship like the Dool for a long, protracted period of time, it doesn't just disrupt that one shipment, but it disrupts further shipments down the chain," he said.

"Fortunately, this grounding did not shut down the Seaway. There are instances where such an incident could happen that could shut the Seaway down."

Last year, a cargo ship ran aground in the Seaway near Cornwall and was stuck for about two days, causing disruptions to marine traffic before it was successfully refloated.

The St. Lawrence Seaway links the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes through a system of 15 locks between Lake Erie and Montreal and has significant economic impacts on both sides of the border.

A 2018 study by Martin Associates found that goods moving through the system supported more than 78,000 direct jobs and $35 billion in revenue in both Canada and the U.S.

With files from CTV News Ottawa's Jack Richardson

(CTV News Ottawa)