Scatarie Island Claims Towed Miner

[JK]

Third effort fails to free bulk carrier stuck off C.B.

Vessel’s owner plans to try again

By BILL POWER Staff Reporter

A decommissioned bulk carrier remains grounded on rocky Scatarie Island off eastern Cape Breton after a third attempt to refloat the vessel failed Saturday evening.

"The ship is still stuck and they will try again tomorrow," Canadian Coast Guard spokesman Steve Bornais.

The coast guard has been monitoring the area with aircraft and ships since the vessel was grounded on Tuesday. It is the ship’s owner who is responsible for finding a way to move the bulk carrier, said Bornais.

On Saturday, the team charged with the ship’s removal waited for extreme high tide and then tried, unsuccessfully, to pull it off the island with more force than the previous two attempts.

During the first effort to move the bulk carrier a tow line connected to the tug snapped. A second effort on Friday was also unsuccessful.

"I’m not sure if they’re going to make a new plan or not," said Bornais late Saturday. "They’ll be examining it and seeing what else they can do."
The carrier, now called the Miner and formerly the Canadian Miner, was under tow on its way to Turkey to be scrapped when the tow line broke in heavy seas and the ship ran aground. There was nobody on the vessel and there were no injuries.

The 230-metre vessel was not carrying any cargo but the coast guard estimates there is about 6,500 litres of diesel fuel onboard.

There were no pressing concerns that the fuel would leak, unless something serious occurred, officials said. Bornais said the last message he got indicated the hull was "generally intact."

The Greek owner of the vessel was scheduled to fly to Cape Breton Saturday with a salvage master experienced in moving ships off rocky areas.

The bulk carrier plied the Great Lakes during its working life.

Coast guard officials described Scatarie Island as an area known for shipwrecks. It lies just over a mile off Cape Breton’s eastern shore near Main-a-Dieu.

With Selena Ross

[JK]

The Miner was built as the HAlco ship, Maplecliffe Hall.
http://www.boatnerd.com/pictures/fleet/ ... nminer.htm

[JK]

The ship dropped behind a reef when she originally went aground in high waves.
Locals state that it will take a extremely high tide to get her out over it. So far she has just been pushed higher on the beach.
The NS government has arrested the tugboat that had the miner in tow.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1267280.html

[The Dieselduck]

This doesn't look good, looks like shes well beyond, just pulling off the beach. Looks like they'll have to break her up in place. The 3 cubes of oily water is the least of their worries now.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/arti ... oast-guard

[JK]

They probably can't get an answer because that is the program cut by TC in the new cutback to save money.

[The Dieselduck]

Yes cut environmental studies and scientist. Cut TC response mechanisms. Problems magically go away, and we find we have 60 billions for useless high tech attack planes. "...I pledge allegiance to the flag, of these united states of Canada... "

And then make this speech... http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Flaherty+t ... story.html

Makes no sense to me...

[JK]

yes that speech, must make the older public servants shake in their boots wondering what he has up his sleeve.

Do you know that PWGSC stopped their technical inspection program and got rid of their inspectors, Martin? We are going into the biggest shipbuilding contract in 50 years and there is no one to take care of the Canadian government interest. The Government is going to hand a design to a yard and say,build me a boat, and there will no one to inspect to the contract. I am sure the yard managers are rubbing their hands in glee.

[JK]

as for the Miner, the NS government has come to the realization that the ship is theirs

http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1268201.html


It is a company with one asset (right, pull the other finger) and someone else will have to come up with the coin to deal with the ship.

When I was on the coast, Scatterie was treated with respect. If something would go wrong it would be in that area. Working down from Cape Breton, the sea would be abeam and usually a dirty ride until you made the turn at Scatterie and got the sea on the quarter.

[The Dieselduck]

Hey politicians.... welcome to our world. Were usually caught in the middle too!

" "Originally, we were hired by Arvino Navigation SA, the owners of the ship, but we did the cleanup at the request of the coast guard and they are paying for the job," Coppes said.

Arvino’s only asset was the ship, so "they have no money and there’s no insurance on the vessel," he said. "We gave the salvage plan to the owner but they had no insurance to do the operation, so the coast guard took over responsibility."

Arvino is registered in the Marshall Islands. Coppes speculated it was created there just so the company could buy and transport the vessel to the scrapyard."

Unfortunately,these types of incidents just reinforce the criminalization of us seafarers by politicians all over the world. Why they did not break up the ship here in Canada, responsibly. Everybody responsible, or at least made money from this ship for years and years, or anticipated making money from the ship, have all disappeared like cockroaches when the light got turned on. This ship has been trading for decades, now all of a sudden its nobody's.

Its not just this ship, all over the world, numerous offshore structure are falling apart, but all of a sudden nobody is around to take them out. When in operation, the company probably did not want to spend money maintaining them (in corporate speak - maintenance = wasted money) now that they are not making any money, do you think they will pay to have them decommissioned properly. Guess who will be stuck with the clean up bills - taxpayers all over the world. The entire life span of an asset, including its proper decommission, needs to be include in the business plan throughout the lifetime of the unit.

[JK]

no doubt she is full of asbestos which is why she is going offshore.

[JollyJack]

Yet I hear Lloyds gave her a clean bill of health 2 years ago when her Certificates were renewed (after removing Conditions of Class, which were then replaced when the certificates were renewed...) Certificates cannot be renewed if Conditions of Class (aka defects) exist.

[JK]

and Canada is going to depend on Class instead of Regulatory, oh the warm and fuzzies......