News / Rough seas drive powerless MSC box ship aground on Canadian coast

MSC Baltic III. Photo: VesselFinder

An MSC containership ran aground in Canada on Saturday, after a loss of power in bad weather. 

MSC Baltic III issued a ‘mayday’ call after experiencing a power failure some 12 nautical miles from the Bay of Islands in Newfoundland.  

Due to the adverse weather and rough sea conditions, the vessel was unable to anchor and subsequently ran aground in Wild Cove, west of Lark Harbour. 

All 20 crew members were safely evacuated, but any damage to cargo is not yet clear. MSC did not respond to The Loadstar’s request for comment. 

According to eeSea, MSC Baltic III, which is 207 metres long and 30m wide, was deployed on the carrier’s intra-Americas Canada Gulf Bridge service between Canada and Mexico’s Gulf coast ports, which deploys six vessels with an average capacity of 2,700 teu. 

The 2,500 teu MSC Baltic III was built in 2003 and sails under the flag of Liberia. 

VesselFinder’s AIS data from Saturday revealed that the MSC Baltic III was en route to the Canadian port of Corner Brook at a speed of 5.1 knots. It had been expected to arrive on 10 February but was delayed.  

NL Maritime, a Newfoundland & Labrador blog, reported that an emergency zone of two nautical miles had been established around the vessel and a salvage team was on its way. 

It added that coastguard vessel Jean Goodwill had been loaded with pollution control equipment and will head to the scene, on standby and to assist if required. 

It is likely that general average will be declared to recoup costs associated with any cargo loss, but this has not yet been confirmed.  

You can see footage of the grounded MSC Baltic III on on this Facebook video from NL Maritime