Canadian Cement Carrier Aground and Blocking St. Lawrence Seaway

A Canadian cement carrier has run aground and is blocking ship traffic on the St. Lawrence Seaway.

The Canadian-flagged NACC Argonaut grounded Sunday morning on the St. Lawrence River near Cornwall, Ontario, about half way between Montreal and Lake Ontario. The ship remained hard aground as of Monday with a slight list to port.

At least one tug is currently alongside the vessel, but another more powerful tug, the Ocean K Rusby, is expected to arrive Monday night.

No injuries or pollution has been reported.

AIS data shows the NACC Argonaut was traveling upbound from Montreal to Oshawa, Canada on Lake Ontario.

The St. Lawrence Seaway is a binational waterway managed by Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, a U.S. federal agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation, and The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation in Canada, a not-for-profit corporation. The waterway serves as a critical artery connecting the Great Lakes region with the Atlantic Ocean. Each year over 200 million tonnes of cargo travel on the waterway, supporting more than $50 billion in economic activity.

“The [Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation] team is coordinating with our Canadian counterparts to address a grounded Canadian vessel that is blocking seaway traffic on the St. Lawrence Seaway — teams are working together to restore normal passage as quickly as possible,” The U.S. Department of Transportation said in a statement posted to the platform formerly known as Twitter.

The NACC Argonaut has a deadweight of 13,977 tonnes and is operated by NovaAlgoma, a joint venture between Nova Marine Carriers SA (Nova) based in Luxembourg and Algoma Central Corporation (Algoma) from Canada.

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