Removal of grounded cargo ship in Lark Harbour will likely run into next year

Resolve Marine has been contracted to remove and salvage the wreck and Team Leader, Todd Schauer, spoke about the plan’s three key objectives, safety of work crews, safety of the community and protection of the environment.

While work has started on building a road to a grounded cargo ship in the Lark Harbour area, getting it out of there won’t be complete until next year. The MSC Baltic III ended up wedged into the shoreline February 15th of last year after the ship lost power. At a technical briefing this morning, the Senior Response Officer with the Canadian Coast Guard, Bruce English spoke about their focus of minimizing the environmental impact of this incident. He says despite extreme weather and sea conditions, 409 of  472 containers have been removed, all bulk fuel, 1700 metric tonnes have been safely removed, and there is still some fuel onboard, contaminated water and 63 containers. 

The vessel is currently stable but English spoke about its poor condition with significant damage done to the hull, including a crack on the hull side, and buckling on the starboard. Pollution in the area has been found including tar balls, stains and debris that has been washed off the vessel. 

Resolve Marine has been contracted to remove and salvage the wreck and Team Leader, Todd Schauer, spoke about the plan’s three key objectives, safety of work crews, safety of the community and protection of the environment. He says the workforce will largely be  represented by NL based contractors, JCL Construction Ltd and Newco Metals. A 450-tonne crane barge is being mobilized, preparation of the site is ongoing and JCL will improve access with a road to the beach and preparation of a shore work site. Remaining cargo containers will be removed with a crane and sent by barge to the Port of Stephenville. 

Once the bow section is cut free and on the beach, heavy fuel tanks will be cleaned thoroughly on a work pad, scrapped into ten tonne pieces and hauled away. Schauer says once salvage is complete, the project site will be restored to its original condition. The quarry is being prepared for the rock to build the road and they expect to have most of the cargo removed and the bow on shore by mid-summer. Schauer says there is a good chance scrapping operations and site restoration will occur in 2027. He says there are many steps to the removal plan with many things to take into consideration especially with regard to the priority of protecting the environment.