The Dutch cargo ship Thamesborg, which ran aground on September 6 in Franklin Strait, in the Canadian part of the Arctic – is currently being lightened of its cargo of carbon blocks, which are being transferred to the ice-class Norwegian cargo ship Silver Copenhagen.
The Norwegian cargo ship has a draft of only six meters, and is therefore able to sail right up alongside the grounded Dutch ship.
The transfer is expected to be completed at the beginning of next week, after which attempts will be made to pull the Thamesborg off the shoal.
The tugboat Beverly M has already arrived at the position, and on Tuesday the powerful icebreaker MSV Botnica is expected to join the group of ships.
Thamesborg, which is 21,359 dwt and has ice class 1A, was en route from China to Baie-Comeau in eastern Canada when it ran aground outside the regular shipping route. It often happens that ice conditions force ships to leave the regular shipping route, which, unlike the surrounding waters, is charted with modern means.
Several ballast tanks have been breached, but there are no reports of leaks from the ship’s fuel tanks. The ship’s 15-member crew are all reported safe and sound.
This is the second time in a short period that a ship has run aground in the area. A little less than a month ago, the Canadian cargo ship Rosaire A. Desgagnés, 12,776 dwt, ran aground in Pelly Bay, but got
free from the shoal under its own power at high tide.
-mauh
