Cargo ship refloated weeks after running aground in St. Lawrence River

Extended: Cargo ship broken free Crews worked to dislodge a massive cargo ship stuck in the St. Lawrence River on Monday. (Courtesy: Charles Marcoux)

Officials say a cargo vessel that ran aground in the St. Lawrence River last month has been broken free.

The St. Lawrence Seaway Corporation said in an email that the Tim S. Dool was safely refloated early Monday morning and brought to Wilson Hill, N.Y. where it will undergo a full inspection before continuing on its journey.

Crews had been lightering the boat all weekend, a process that involves removing cargo from the ship to facilitate moving it.

"The completion of the Tim S. Dool’s refloat was the culmination of weeks of effort from the multiple local, state, federal, and international partner organizations making up the unified coordination group overseeing the operation," the U.S. Coast Guard said in a news release.

The ship was carrying a load of wheat grain through the St. Lawrence River on Nov. 23 when it ran aground in U.S. waters upstream of Morrisburg, Ont.

The grounding drew ship-watchers and locals alike to marvel at the stuck ship, with many speculating about the cause of the grounding. The cause has not been confirmed.

U.S. and Canadian officials had attempted to refloat the boat using tugboats coming from Quebec City earlier this month but the ship was fully grounded from bow to stern, making efforts to refloat the 225-metre ship difficult without removing weight.

The boat was outside the navigation channel and did not cause disruptions to shipping traffic or environmental pollution, officials say. No one was injured.

The 57-year-old Tim S. Dool is owned by the Algoma Central Corporation, a Canadian shipping company. The ship services the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.

While rare, ships running aground in the river is not unheard of.

Last year, a ship ran aground in the St. Lawrence near Cornwall, Ont. and was stuck for about two days, causing disruptions to marine traffic before it was successfully refloated.