Efforts to free the MV Maccoa, a ship stranded in the St. Lawrence River northeast of Montreal, are set to resume this Sunday. The vessel, which ran aground near Verchères, Quebec, on December 24 following a power failure, is currently stable with no pollution risk and a 20-person crew on board. The Canadian Coast Guard has coordinated a plan involving the ship’s owner to unload over 3,000 metric tons of corn to reduce its weight. The cargo will be transferred to two Ocean Group barges, each capable of holding 1,500 metric tons.
The operation might face delays due to forecasted rain, which would hinder the unloading process as corn cannot be handled in wet conditions. Initially, authorities hoped to commence the work on January 1 following the initial unsuccessful attempt last week. The new schedule plans for cargo unloading to begin on Thursday, aiming for a refloat by Sunday. The MV Maccoa is a Cyprus-flagged 185-meter bulk carrier that encountered difficulties in the river’s challenging conditions, which it has navigated until the unexpected grounding.
