Two fuel tankers collide off Lewisporte

Minor damage reported

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is investigating a collision between two coastal fuel tankers in the waters off Lewisporte.

The board says the tanker Travestern collided with the anchored tanker Havelstern on Sunday, resulting in minor damage to both vessels.

Pierre Murray, the board’s manager of regional operations in Halifax, says no one was injured and nothing spilled from either ship.

The vessels, each about 150 metres long, were carrying diesel and jet fuel, he said.

“It’s a small coastal vessel,” said Murray. “There was no pollution or anything like that.”

The two vessels were coming alongside each other to transfer fuel near Lewisporte when the wind picked up, he said.

Their sterns collided and there was subsequent damage to both vessels — all of it above the waterline.

“Both vessels were pretty much stopped when that happened,” Murray said. Both vessels are operated by Coastal Shipping Ltd., a div- ision of the Woodward Group of Cos., based in Labrador. The firm supplies fuel to Arctic and Labrador coastal ports.

PATRICK MURPHY/THE PILOT Damage can be seen on the superstructure of the tanker Travestern after it collided with its sister ship, the tanker Havelstern, on Sunday near Lewisporte.