Ship freed from ice in U. S. lock

An ocean- going vessel stuck in a U. S. lock on the St. Lawrence Seaway has been freed.

“Everything went according to the plan which I had outlined ( Friday),” Martin Krafft, vice- president of shipowning and technical services at Montreal- based shipping company Fednav Ltd., said in an email to the Tribune.

Krafft said boilers had been brought in to thaw and melt the ice, using high- pressurized steam, inside the Snell Lock, at Massena, N. Y.

A release from the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. — it operates the seaway on behalf of the U. S. Department of Transportation on the American side of the border — said it was a major effort over 24 hours to melt the ice around the vessel.

“The vessel exited the lock earlier this afternoon with tug assistance. The vessel is now tied up along the upper approach wall to the lock,” said the release issued Saturday.

It said the effort to free the Federal Biscay, which became stuck on New Year’s Day, lasted several days and involved the hard work of many individuals under severe weather conditions. At least three tugs had been trying to free the vessel, with no success, before the steam boilers were brought in.

“This included dedicated Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. work crews, technical experts from the Canadian St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp., the vessel operator ( Fednav, Ltd.) and numerous contractors.”

The seaway was to close on Dec. 31, but a snap freeze and very heavy ice conditions on the St. Lawrence River, from Kingston to Montreal, pushed the date back. In addition to the ice causing a slowdown, the grounding of the ocean- going vessel Pacific Huron, near Wellesley Island, N. Y., added to the delay.

The Pacific Huron was one of four vessels trapped behind the Federal Biscay. The others were the Mitiq, Beatrix and Billesborg, all ocean- going as well.

When the Federal Biscay became stuck, it further delayed the closing of the St. Lawrence Seaway system on both sides of the border.

Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. said the other four had yet to transit downbound ( eastbound) through the U. S. seaway locks towards Montreal, and four Canadian locks, to exit the Seaway.

“These vessels are already positioned to allow for as safe and expeditious lock transit as possible,” the release said.

FEDNAV FILE PHOTO The Federal Biscay, owned by Montreal- based Fednav, was freed from the Snell Lock in the American section of the St. Lawrence Seaway system Saturday. It is carrying soybeans to Turkey from Chicago.