St. Lawrence Seaway

Early Monday morning the M/V Juno 623' X 78' from the Bahamas lost her engines and went a ground under the Thousand Island Bridge loaded with sugar heading for Toronto Ontario. The Seaway is now closed to navigation.

When a ship has no power all they can do is drop anchor a hope for the best. The Juno has 17' of water in her fore peak and is hard aground on rocks, tugs are due to arrive around 15:00 hours today and seaway is still closed. When tugs arrive they want get her secured and start clearing up the ships that are waiting. I saw a ship lose her engine a few years ago in the Welland and she dragged her two anchors for about half a mile. Yes ships have pilots on board. Here are few more pictures of groundings last year in the river.
Below are a few

4/22 - Collins Landing, N.Y. – 7:30 a.m. update - At 7:15 Wednesday the two Groupe Ocean tugs pulled Juno stern first down and out from under the 1000 Islands Bridge. They immediately went ahead and the ship is now under her own power up bound for the Carleton Island anchorage with the tugs escorting.

Original report - Coast Guard officials are reviewing a plan to move the grounded Juno, which has been stranded under the Thousand Islands Bridge since early Monday morning.

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Christopher M. Yaw, based in Cleveland, said it was unclear when the vessel might be moved. “The main thing right now is making sure everything is done safely,” he said.

Crews have spent the last day assessing the damage to the Juno, which grounded around 1 a.m. Monday as it carried sugar to Toronto. Around noon Tuesday, the Canadian tugboats Ocean Georgie Bain and Ocean Ross Gaudreault arrived at the scene to help move the ship.

The grounding of the Juno has held up nearby shipping on the St. Lawrence Seaway. The Coast Guard said Tuesday afternoon seven vessels are waiting for the channel to re-open.

The 621-foot bulk carrier, flagged in the Bahamas, is owned and operated by Polska Zeg Luga Morska P.P., a subsidiary of the O’Brien’s Group.

The vessel is slightly listing to port with 18 feet of water in its forward peak, the Coast Guard said. No cargo or fuel was spilled into the waterway, and no crew injuries were reported.

The cause of the grounding is still under investigation, Petty Officer Yaw said. Crews were still at the site as of about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, he said.

Also aiding at the scene were officials from the Canadian Coast Guard, the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation, Polsteam USA, Seaway Traffic, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Jefferson County.

Watertown Daily Times,

ANOTHER SHIP AGROUND GREAT LAKES

Mississagi aground in St. Marys River

4/22 - The Coast Guard is responding to a 603-foot bulk carrier which ran aground in the St. Marys River near De Tour Village, Michigan, early Wednesday.

The Mississagi, with a load of stone, was transiting downbound the St. Marys River from Bruce Mines, Ontario, when it ran aground in the Potagannissing Bay approximately 4 miles northeast of De Tour Village.

There are no reported injuries to the crew and no reported pollution.

At about 1:00 a.m., the vessel notified a watchstander at Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, that the carrier was hard aground on shoal water in the vicinity of De Tour Village.

The Coast Guard responded with a 25-foot Response Boat-Small from Station Sault Ste Marie as well as a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium from Station St. Ignace, Michigan. At first light a helicopter crew from Air Station Traverse City, Michigan, aboard an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter flew over the vessel to confirm there was no pollution.

The bow of the vessel is aground and the fuel tanks are located near the stern of the vessel.

Vessel navigation in the St. Marys River is currently unimpeded.

ANOTHER SHIP AGROUND