The containership MSC Baltic III, which lost power and ran aground on the Canadian coastline almost two weeks ago, cannot be safely refloated, the Canadian Coast Guard has reported.
The 33 767-dwt box ship ran into trouble during stormy weather off the coast on February 15, when it experienced a blackout and was unable to drop anchor before it was driven to the shoreline. The Canadian Coast Guard deployed a helicopter that safely rescued the crew.
MSC advised the Coast Guard that the vessel had approximately 470 containers aboard of which more than half were empty.
There are however materials aboard considered dangerous goods in shipping terms, such as eight containers of polymer beads (nurdles) and whiskey, which have been prioritised for removal.
According to the Coast Guard, persistent winter storms have hampered the efforts of a private salvage team which has been assessing the risk of fuel and other potential environmental contaminants on the vessel. The poor weather has repeatedly prevented teams from getting aboard the vessel, which is also being monitored from the air and the shore.
It said in an update that divers had managed to assess the hull of the vessel last week.
“An assessment of the hull confirmed significant breaches or holes are present. The vessel appears to have settled firmly on the seabed, and is stable at this time.
“We continue to assess the MSC Baltic III from the shoreline and by air. No pollution has been observed.”
The Coast Guard told the Telegram newspaper that in its current condition, the vessel could not be safely refloated and that it was exploring alternatives, including repairing an old road that could be used to reach the remote location. The road would need upgrades to handle heavy equipment and tractor-trailers.
It said it was also considering building an access point from the shore to the bow of the vessel and pumping the approximately 1.7 million litres of heavy fuel and marine gas aboard to the shore because a salvage vessel may not be able to get access alongside the MSC Baltic III.
