Cargo Ship ‘Thamesborg’ Arrives at Turkey Shipyard For Repairs After Arctic Grounding

The Dutch-flagged cargo ship Thamesborg has arrived at a Turkish shipyard to undergo repairs following a high-profile grounding in the Northwest Passage earlier this fall. In a statement to gCaptain, a spokesperson for shipping operator Wagenborg confirmed the vessel’s arrival in Turkey under its own power. 

“There were no temporary repairs required in Canada after Thamesborg discharged her cargo. The status of the vessel was evaluated to be in an appropriately safe condition to complete the Atlantic crossing by herself,” the representative said.

Vessel tracking data indicate that Thamesborg was escorted by Boskalis’ anchor handling vessel Princess during its Atlantic crossing.

Satellite images show Thamesborg at the Içda? shipyard near Çanakkale. The yard, located on the Sea of Marmara south of Istanbul, is one of Turkey’s busiest for commercial ship repair and conversion work.

With a length of 370 meters, a width of 70 meters and a depth of 10 meters it is Turkey’s largest dry-dock.

At the Içda? shipyard, naval engineers are expected to assess and carry out structural and systems repairs, though Wagenborg’s spokesperson emphasized that it is “not yet possible to estimate the exact scope of repairs or the time that will be required before the vessel is back in operation.”

Thamesborg ran aground along Canada’s Northwest Passage in early September. The vessel was en route from Lianyungang, China to eastern Canada when it struck a shoal in the remote Franklin Strait near Prince of Wales Island on September 6. It took more than four weeks to refloat the vessel and escort it out of the Arctic before winter made the passage inaccessible. 

During the grounding incident, Canadian authorities and international salvage crews coordinated a complex operation that included transferring over 5,000 tons of industrial carbon blocks to other vessels to lighten Thamesborg’s draft and allow it to float free. Despite damage to ballast tanks and the hull, there were no injuries and no pollution reported, officials said at the time. 

After being refloated in early October and undergoing initial inspections in a sheltered Canadian bay, the ship arrived at Baie-Comeau on October 27 from where it departed for the Atlantic crossing to Turkey on November 24.

The grounding of Thamesborg came as part of a broader pattern of shipping traffic using the Northwest Passage as a shortcut to Asia. According to Aker Arctic, while the 2025 transit window was shorter than in 2024, with entry beginning later and concluding earlier, a total of 13 large commercial ships completed the full route, including five by Dutch shipping company Wagenborg.

The Thamesborg’s grounding underscores the hazards posed by incomplete charts, shifting sea ice, and limited local emergency infrastructure in one of the world’s most remote regions.

Updated: December 16, 2025 (Originally published December 15, 2025)

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