Canadian Coast Guard joins effort to help grounded bulker on US side of St Lawrence Seaway
New York: Canadian Coast Guard tugboats from Montreal on Tuesday came to the aid of the bulker Juno (30,185 dwt, built 2011) which grounded on Monday in the US section of the St Lawrence Seaway.
The 622-foot Juno, owned by Polish Steamship Company (Polsteam), was en route to Toronto with a cargo of 19,000 metric tons of sugar when it experienced a steering problem and ran aground near the Thousand Islands International Bridge system on the south bank of the waterway in New York State.
Traffic was delayed on the navigational channel while US Coast Guard assessed the next move. Officials from US agency the St Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation had previously boarded the vessel to investigate.
US Coast Guard confirmed on Tuesday that the ship was taking on water in a forward ballast tank and was listing to the port side with 18-feet of water in the forward peak of the vessel.
The cause of the grounding was still under investigation early on Tuesday afternoon, although it had been determined early that up to that time there had been no loss of freight, no spillage of fuel and no injuries to crew members. Nor had there been contact with bridge in the accident.
