It’s not quite an “Ever Given” scenario, but for the owners of the Tim S. Dool, a 225-meter-long Canadian freighter, it is a fourth day of embarrassment and potential financial consequences. The ship ran aground in the afternoon, local time, on 23 November, in US waters near the community of Morrisburg, Ontario.
The ship, with a gross tonnage of 18,700, is carrying around 30,000 tonnes of grain – a full load. It ran aground in the relatively narrow section of the St Lawrence River, about midway between Lake Ontario and the Gulf of St Lawrence. The so-called “laker’ (inland waterway) ship was on a domestic run, delivering its load from Port Weller (near Niagara) to Quebec. It’s believed the ship missed a turn, possibly because of a mechanical failure.
Several names, unremarkable history
The global shipping community is treating the grounding as a minor incident. The ship’s crew were not injured. Commercially, the shipping lanes are not blocked, despite the watercourse being relatively narrow at this point. The waterway is around half a mile wide, but geographical features make the navigable channel much narrower.
The ship is the relatively old Tim S. Dool. Built in 1967, in Saint John, New Brunswick, it was launched as the “Senneville” and later renamed “Algoville” when the ship transferred to the current owners, Algoma Central Corporation. The owners changed to the current name in 2008. WorldCargo News has contacted the owners for comment.
Incidents and reflecting speculation
The Tim S Tool is designated as a Seawaymax vessel, the largest such vessel that can be accommodated through the canal locks of the St. Lawrence Seaway. The first vessel built to Seawaymax dimensions was the ill-fated Edmund Fitzgerald, which was lost in a storm on Lake Superior at about this time of year in 1975.
The St Lawrence Seaway is one of the busiest routes in the world. Incidents in the Seaway are not infrequent, given the volume of traffic navigating the passage. However, unlike the Ever Given grounding, noted above, which caused global disruption, the shipping lanes remain open, albeit with a speed restriction. In August, a Dutch cargo vessel ran aground near Montreal in an incident that blocked traffic movements. At present, there is no firm news on the refloating of the Tim S Tool, although unconfirmed speculation expects the ship to be freed from its position in the next few days. It is unclear if the vessel has sustained hull damage which would require a complicated cargo salvage operation.