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Tugs were not strong enough for work on St. Lawrence River

The "Lac Manitoba" that capsized on the St. Lawrence River on June 22 was not strong enough to do the work being completed, said the Transportation Safety Board of Canada. IT was determined the she and a second tug were ill-equipped for moving a large barge in late June. The suitability of the tugs had not been thoroughly assessed. The "Lac Manitoba" was trying to position the barge on the river. The barge was being used to help with the demolition of the Seaway International Bridge. During the work she lost power and slammed into the side of the barge. The current, which TSB officials estimated was between five and 7.4 knots on that day, quickly forced water into the tug and it capsized. Its crew escaped without loss of life. The smaller support vessel, the "LCM 131", continued work at the site, trying to secure the barge via steel cable to a bridge footing, when it became swamped by the onrushing current. Its crew also escaped without loss of life. The marine safety letter compiled by the TSB has been addressed to all the companies involved in the incident that day, including American Bridge, Nadro Marine, McKeil Marine and Westfront Construction. The letter suggested more work could have been done to augment safety at the site of the sinkings.

One tug out of the water

Crews completed the salvage operations for the "Lac Manitoba" on July 31, lifting the vessel out of 15 feet of water in the middle of the St. Lawrence River. Earlier in the week, salvaging operations were able to extract the bulk of the 9,000 liters of fuel on board the ship. The lift drew a small crowd to the shore of the river for most of the day. The barge "S/VM 86" onto which the wreck was placed was assisted away from the dock and towed to Hamilton where the tug will be scrapped. The river in the vicinity of the Seaway International Bridge was still closed to all vessel traffic. Crews were now expected to focus on the work tugboat "LCM 131" this week. Reports with photos: http://www.cornwallnewswatch.com/2015/08/01/tugboat-lac-manitoba-at-cornwall-harbour/ http://www.cornwallseawaynews.com/News/2015-08-01/article-4233710/Lac-Manitoba-headed-for-the-scrap-heap/1 http://www.standard-freeholder.com/2015/07/31/salvage-operation-a-pull-here-a-tug-there

Fuel from sunken tugs drained

Nearly all of the diesel from the "Lac Manitoba" and "LCM 131" has been removed or forced out of fuel tanks by rushing water until July 29. The "Lac Manitoba" had all but perhaps 30 litres of diesel fuel removed in salvage operations. The next step was to see the engine space of the vessel pumped free of oily water on July 31. That space was likely contaminated by lubricants used on the massive engines used to power the tug. Once that operation is completed, recovery of the wreck was scheduled for Aug 1, when the tug was to be raised from the river bottom by a massive crane and placed on a barge. The "Lac Manitoba" had about 9,000 litres of diesel fuel on board when it capsized. It was unknown how much of the fuel was spilled into the river during the tug's month-long stay in the water, because calculations were still being completed on how much has been removed from the tanks. Salvage workers were likely to reposition their equipment over the weekend in advance of recovering the "LCM 131". The 200 litres of diesel that was aboard that tug when it capsized has been washed away by the powerful river current in that region. There have been reports of some sheening on the river, and drinking prohibitions have been ordered for some regions downstream of the wreck that take their water directly from the river, but there have been no massive releases of toxins reported. Report with photo: http://www.cornwallseawaynews.com/News/2015-07-29/article-4230069/Diesel-recovered-from-capsized-tug,-ship-gets-raised-Friday---coast-guard/1