Grounded Cargo Ship Freed In St Lawrence River After 4 Week Salvage Effort

General cargo ship Onego Otra, which spent almost 4 weeks grounded in the St. Lawrence River, has finally been refloated and towed to port for inspection.

The Antigua and Barbuda-flagged vessel was freed on Sunday afternoon, July 26, after an extensive salvage operation involving two rounds of cargo lightening and 3 tugboats.

Built in 2010 and operated by a German shipping firm, the 146 m long vessel had left Montreal with grain bound for New Orleans when a rudder failure occurred on June 30.

Due to this, the ship veered out of the main navigation channel and grounded in shallow waters off Île Saint-Ours near Contrecoeur.

Because it came to rest outside the primary fairway, commercial shipping traffic along the St. Lawrence River continued uninterrupted.

However, to ensure safety around the salvage area, the Canadian Coast Guard established local maritime boundaries.

They also ordered pleasure craft to maintain a 250 m distance from the vessel. Initial efforts to dislodge the Onego Otra required lightening the vessel to reduce its draft.

On July 12 and 13, salvage crews used the ship’s onboard cranes to offload between 2,270 and 2,720 metric tons of grain onto transport barges.

Despite this, an 8-hour towing attempt on July 14 involving multiple tugs failed to move the vessel from its position.

Salvage teams then organised a second phase of lightering after unloading an additional 2,400 tonnes of grain.

On July 26 at approximately 2:00 p.m., 3 Ocean Group tugs, Ocean Comeau, Ocean Intrepide, and Ocean Clovis T, pulled the ship into deeper waters.

The Onego Otra sailed to Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, where it docked around 4:00 p.m. the same day.

Canadian Coast Guard officials confirmed that no injuries were sustained by the crew and no environmental pollution was detected.

Marine surveyors and divers in Sorel are conducting inspections of the hull, rudder, and propulsion machinery to assess structural integrity before determining whether the vessel can reload its cargo and continue its voyage to the U.S.