Salvage work begins on ship grounded in Northwest Passage north of Gjoa Haven, Nunavut

A salvage operation is under way to remove the Dutch cargo ship MV Thamesborg, which ran aground in an area of shallows in the Franklin Strait, Nunavut, on Sept. 6. The ship was making the Northwest Passage from Lianyungang, China, to Baie-Comeau, Que., with a load of carbon block. According to the Canadian Coast Guard’s Live Operations website, there were no injuries during the grounding incident, and the Thamesborg’s fuel tanks and cargo hold were unaffected. Multiple ballast tanks flooded, however. The Canadian Coast Guard told APTN News it had not observed any pollution coming from the ship, which it found had remained stable. “We are working with all our partners, including the territorial government and Inuit organizations, to ensure information is shared about the ongoing incident,” said Coast Guard representative Craig Macartney.  “Environmental sensitivities have been requested from the relevant authorities, including Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada, to be included and considered in plans moving forward.” Read more: Inuit Circumpolar Council welcomes new shipping regulations in the Arctic The vessel ran aground near the Tasmania Islands off the Boothia Peninsula.  It sits in the water roughly 300 kilometres north of Gjoa Haven.  The Canadian Coast Guard responded with Fast Rescue Craft and a helicopter, plus two other vessels, which have been inspecting the Thamesborg’s hull and bringing personnel and equipment from Taloyoak, Nunavut. While the site where the Thamesborg ran aground is very remote, Macartney said the Coast Guard has a network of 23 environmental-response equipment caches across the north, including one at Gjoa Haven, and another at Resolute Bay, roughly 385 kilometres to the north. On Monday, the Thamesborg began to transfer its cargo to the Norwegian ice-class ship Silver Copenhagen, which is capable of sailing in northern waters. The transfer process will continue into next week.  Other boats are nearby, and the icebreaker MSV BOTANICA is en route, expected to arrive Tuesday..  Canadian Coast Guard representatives are overseeing the salvage operation. In a video on the YouTube channel What’s Going on With Shipping?, maritime historian Sal Mercogliano from North Carolina’s Campbell University said that while the sea floor of the Northwest Passage is poorly mapped, the Thamesborg ran aground on the pinnacle of a known shallow area.  He noted the Thamesborg had previously made the same voyage on Sept. 29 of 2024, sailing slightly west of the shallow zone. The Thamesborg is operated by Dutch company Royal Wagenborg, whose website says it became the first European company to send ships through the Northwest Passage without icebreakers in 2016. Continue Reading