Commercial Freighter Runs Aground in Arctic En Route From China

A 173-meter long Dutch-flagged freighter, Thamesborg, has run aground in the Canadian Arctic en route from Lianyungang, China to Baie-Comeau, Canada.

The vessel was traveling through the Arctic via Canada’s Northwest Passage when it ran aground in the Franklin Strait, roughly half way through the NWP. The route is one of two main passageways through the Polar region, though it remains much less frequented than Russia’s Northern Sea Route.

According to the vessel’s operator, Dutch shipping firm Wagenborg, there have been no injuries aboard and no pollution was released in the marine environment. 

The Thamesborg was built with a 1A ice-class making it suitable for summer and fall operations in the Arctic in first-year ice. The vessel routinely sails the NWP connecting China to Canada. 

The route via the Arctic is around 3,750 nautical miles shorter than the traditional way via the Panama Canal. The Arctic short-cut saves around 14 days in travel time and reduces emissions by 40 percent, the company states on its website. Though environmental groups warn of the impact of the release of emissions locally in the Arctic environment. 

The Netherlands-based Wagenborg is a pioneer of utilizing Canada’s NWP, becoming the first European operator to transit the route in 2016.

Based on AIS data the grounding occurred around midnight UTC on September 7. Canada’s Coast Guard dispatched CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier to offer assistance and monitor the situation. The light icebreaker was positioned around 150 nautical miles to the southwest at the time of the incident and arrived on scene within around nine hours.

In an emailed statement Wagenborg said that “salvage assistance has been arranged for its managed general cargo vessel Thamesborg” and that “the crew are currently making a further assessment of potential damage to the ship, which remains aground in a stable condition.”

The company emphasized that it is working with all relevant authorities and salvage experts were discussing steps for the safe refloating. The vessel is carrying a shipment of carbon blocks for industrial use.

Canada’s Northwest Passage has been notorious for groundings in recent years, in part due to poorly surveyed waters. Repeated incidents over the past two decades show that Arctic navigation along the NWP leaves little room for error, though calm seas and the availability of nearby vessels have been fortuitous in preventing any loss of life or major impact on the marine environment.

In 2018 the ice-strengthened cruise ship Akademik Ioffe ran aground in the Gulf of Boothia to the east of the Franklin Strait. Calm seas and the vessel’s sister ship Akademik Sergey Vavilov nearby as well as two Canadian icebreakers, facilitated the rescue of the crew and passengers. 

Eight years prior, the Clipper Adventurer ran into a shoal in Coronation Gulf along the NWP to the west. Again favorable weather conditions allowed for the safe rescue of around 200 passengers and crew.

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