Wagenborg’s multipurpose freighter “Thamesborg” has been stuck in the Canadian Arctic for a month with more than 19,000 tons of cargo for an aluminium plant. Now the icebreaker “Botnica” is here to help.
One month after the accident, the Dutch 21,359 tdw multipurpose freighter “Thamesborg” from Royal Wagenborg remains aground in the Canadian part of the Northwest Passage. The ship, built in 2013, ran aground off Prince of Wales Island in the Franklin Strait on its way from the Chinese port of Lianyungang to Baie Comeau (Canada). The Franklin Strait is only passable in August and September.
The icebreaker “Botnica”, which was sent from Europe, arrived at the scene of the accident at the weekend after a stopover in Nuuk (Greenland). It is now the fourth ship to be called in to assist with the salvage work. Previously, the tug “Beverly M I” and the freighters “Silver Copenhagen” and “Nunalik” had already taken on parts of the cargo (carbon blocks).
With a bollard pull of 117 tons, the “Botnica” has significantly more power than the coastal tug “Beverly M I”, which is still on standby. The Estonian ship, built in 1998, is regularly chartered out for offshore operations in summer and keeps the shipping lanes in the Baltic Sea open in winter on behalf of the port of Tallinn.
Wagenborg intends to refloat the “Thamesborg” in the coming days, subject to weather conditions. According to the Canadian Ice Service (CIS), ice has already formed in the Barrow Strait north of the accident site. According to the shipping company, the outer hull and ballast tanks are damaged, but the cargo holds and fuel tanks are intact. No injuries or visible marine debris were reported.
Several options are open for a possible towing operation. An evasion to the east via the Fury and Hecla Strait towards Fox Basin is made more difficult by increasing icing. On the other hand, an ice-free corridor remains open to the west via the Amundsen Gulf into the Beaufort Sea. The Northwest Passage usually closes to commercial shipping in October, although the timing varies from year to year. Last year, the Wagenborg fleet with the ice-strengthened “Avonborg” managed to complete an eastward passage in early November. The P&I club for the “Thamesborg” is NorthStandard, based in Newcastle.
