Arca 1 follow up

My post on the Arca 1 has received more comments than any other post I have made on Shipfax. There are too many to publish and too many to comment on directly. And since this is my personal blog and not a forum, I have never used it as vehicle to exchange opinions one on one.

There are many things that need to be added however, and some corrections. In no particular order:

It was the RCAF's CH-149 Cormorant helicopter from 413 Squadron based in Greenwood, NS that lifted the six crew members from the Arca 1. The CCG and RCAF provide Search and Rescue jointly, but the excellent bit of close-in flying, landing two SAR techs and lifting everyone off safely was done by the Royal Canadian Air Force.

It is the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) that will be investigating the grounding, not the NTSB. The latter initials belong to the United States' organization that provides a corresponding service.
You will note that we have not heard if Panama will be participating in this investigation.

There were several observations that it was easy for me to point the finger. That is true, and I did. However it was more of a shot gun blast since I covered everyone who could possibly have been involved in sending this vessel to sea. Any one of a number of agencies, companies or individuals could have changed the course of events. And since it will be at least two years before we hear anything from the TSB, my guess (at this point) is as good as anyone's as to what might have been done differently.

I acknowledge that all eventualities cannot be covered. The ship was only an hour or so from the Sydney pilot, and could well have been overcome by fast moving weather.  Had all gone well there would have been no incident. Had the Canso Canal been open and the had the ship left Sorel early enough to go that way, things might have turned out very differently. A sister vessel, the Sillery, (pictured in a previous post) made the similar voyage without incident in October 1992 - and it had not been double hulled.

These are all what ifs and maybes, and can result in endless speculation.   The fact is that it happened, and satisfactory explanations my well be forthcoming.

The Coast Guard's response to the incident has been without fault as far as I am aware. I think they are under-resourced and their mandate is too restricted. These are political matters and are in no way a criticism of the Coast Guard employees themselves.

The same may very well be true of Transport Canada's Marine Safety people. Not their fault if their mandate is restricted to international treaties when it comes to foreign ships.

My point was that political decisions need to be made about control of shipping in our waters. Recent concerns on the west coast about tanker safety, while perhaps panic driven and not entirely rational, resulted in a political decision to develop the Ocean Protection Plan, announced in November. I see that reaction as a response to public pressure and opinion. Unless similar attention is drawn to east coast matters, we, as usual, will be ignored by Ottawa.

Shipping and marine traffic will go on, it is the lifeblood of commerce, and accidents will happen. However they should be prevented where possible, rather than subjecting the taxpayers to costly and dangerous SAR missions, and sometimes (although not likely in the case in Arca 1) even more costly cleanups.

I hope I can report a safe refloating of Arca 1 in a few days time. Weather permitting and enough pumps, and a way to melt the ice in the ballast water, the tugs Tim McKeil and Kaliutik will have delivered the ship to Sydney. The sandy shore that it landed on was about the best place that it could have happened, and so far the hull has not been breached.

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Arca 1 doesn't make it

The bunkering tanker Arca 1 is firmly lodged on the shore just west of Sydney Mines on the coast of Spanish Bay, between Merrit Point and Bonar Head. The position is only about six miles from the entrance to Sydney Harbour. The small ship was making for Sydney when it experienced engine failure and drifted ashore in the early hours of this morning. During the day today a Canadian Coast Guard Cormorant helicopter evacuated the six crew men to safety.
According to reports, the Coast Guard is now mobilizing for an environmental clean up, as the ship's fuel is likely to start leaking out.

When I covered this small tanker's story in Shipfax January 4  I was seriously concerned about its fragile propulsion system and the necessity to travel in good weather only. I had grave reservations about the wisdom of allowing this underpowered and sub-standard craft to sail into the Gulf of St.Lawrence, let alone on its intended voyage to the Dominican Republic. It had leap-frogged down the St.Lawrence from Sorel to Quebec City, to Havre-Aubert, in the Magdalen Islands. But during the jump to Sydney it may have been overtaken by a major winter storm and could not get out of the way.
What possesses the authorities to allow this sort of thing to happen again, after the Miner experience is beyond me. It is fortunate that there was no loss of life.

The little ship was widend and deepened in 2004, but still has a barge shaped hull.

Little more than a powered barge, it was never intended for sea-going voyages, and as I reported, the previous time it visited Halifax it was towed here and towed back to Montreal.
The ship's propulsion system is called "outdrive" and it consists of two engines, mounted on the after deck in very flimsy housings. These provide power to vertical shafts, slung outboard of the stern, to steerable propellers. That the ship suffered engine failure is no surprise. The engines are very exposed, particularly to following seas, and should they fail, attempting to work on them in frigid temperatures, high winds, driving snow and rough seas is inconceivable.

This view of a sister tanker, shows the engines mounted on deck and the outdrives.

Transport Canada, responsible for Port State Control, must be held responsible for its actions (or lack thereof). How inspectors could let such a ship go to sea makes one wonder what sort of oversight they are providing to Canada and how they can justify their existence. If the simple expedient of hoisting a Panamanian flag exempts a ship from being subject to any Canadian  oversight while in Canadian waters
then something has to change.
The Laurentian Pilotage Authority must also bear some responsibility if its pilots worked the ship from Sorel to Quebec and Quebec to Les Escoumins, surely they were aware of its potential for disaster, and had a duty to report to Transport Canada Ship Safety.
If the Transportation Safety Board conducts an inquiry, it can only make recommendations, which Transport Canada is free to ignore. It has done so in the past because the NTSB has no teeth.
Then there is the Coast Guard. With no assets in the area able to assist a vessel in distress, all they can do is rescue and clean up - at great expense to the taxpayer. There are several tugs in the area that could have assisted, but the Coast Guard has no mandate to hire tugs to do rescue work, and is still a long way from having its own rescue tugs in service.
And finally, did the owner post a bond before sailing. This is a good question because the new international convention and the government's promise to institute such a regulation, may at least help to protect the taxpayer from  the clean-up and wreck removal costs. Since the ship is essentially valueless, has no cargo aboard, and is probably minimally insured, the Owner is unlikely to have very deep pockets.

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Weather Woes

High winds again today brought port traffic to a near standstill. The only arrival was the supplier Atlantic Kingfisher.  Since it was built here in 2002, it has been based in Newfoundland and was back only once in March 2006.

Since it tied up at pier 9 I assume it will be fitted for some cable work, likely the fibrepotic repair on the St.Lawrence River off Forestville. IT Intrepid was originally lined up to do the work, but is has since sailed for the Caribbean.

The tanker STI Wembley moved from Irving Oil Woodside to Bedford Basin anchorage during the highest winds, then moved back later this afternoon. The tanker Acadian was due to take its place but has remained at sea.

Several container ships, including Zim Monaco and Zim Shanghai were due, but have been delayed, and Atlantic Cartier will now arrive tomorrow.

A couple of other interesting craft are also making there way along the coast, although they may not be calling in Halifax.

Océan Traverse Nord, a trailing suction hopper dredge had been working on the Borden, PE - Cape Tormentine, NB power cable project. When it completed that work it headed for Charlottetown for Christmas, then Sydney, NS for New Year, thus avoiding a couple of storms. Then on January 2 it left for Mulgrave, NS, arriving yesterday in time to miss the current blow. It has over-wintered in Mulgrave before, but may also be headed south.

Océan Traverse Nord is built with a hull that hinges lengthwise, allowing it to dump its cargo of dredge spoil. The superstructure remains on an even keel throughout the process. 

Built in 2012 it has worked on the St.Lawrence River, Great Lakes and the Caribbean. It called in Halifax in 2013 on its was to Dos Bocas, Mexico.

Another craft from the St.Lawrence is also making its way south. Arca 1 departed Sorel, QC December 31, over-nighted in Quebec City then made a direct run to Havre-Aubert in the Magdelan Islands.

Arca laid up in Sorel last August.

Built in 1963 by Port Weller  Dry Dock as Imperial Lachine it served the Port of Montreal as a bunkering tanker. When Imperial Oil sold its fleet of full sized tankers in 1997, it had Imperial Lachine towed to Halifax to layup with their other bunkering tanker Imperial Dartmouth, neither of which was included in the sale. However in the spring of 1998 it returned to Montreal and resumed duties until 2002. It was then sold to McKeil Marine and renamed Josee M (unofficially). The next year it was towed to Hamilton, ON, renamed Murex then towed back to Montreal under Shell Canada ownership and renamed Arca. It was laid up for sale in 2014.

Ownership was transferred to Heddle Marine Service Inc c/o McKeil Marine until autumn 2016  when it was finally sold to new owners in the Dominican Republic. They renamed it Arca 1 early in December.

Due to its fairly delicate outdrive propulsion system, I expect the ship to travel in good weather only, hop-skipping to convenient sheltered ports. It is expected to stop  in Shelburne, NS, possibly for drydocking.

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