by Lloyd's List

19 February 2025 (Lloyd's List) - BAD weather continues to disrupt salvage efforts on a Mediterranean Shipping Co-owned containership that ran aground off Newfoundland on February 15.

Liberia-flagged, 2003-built, 2,478 teu MSC Baltic III (IMO: 9241475) lost power 12 nautical miles off the entrance to the Bay of Islands, Newfoundland, before running aground in poor weather. Its crew of 20 were airlifted from the containership by a Canadian coastguard helicopter.

That bad weather continues to hamper the salvage effort. Salvage experts were forced to abandon an inspection of the vessel because of rough seas and high winds.

Canadian Coast Guard senior response officer Bruce English told Canadian public broadcaster CBC that a salvage team had tried to get back on board the ship on Tuesday morning but could not, thanks to “three metre-high seas and 30 knots of winds”.

English said a greater assessment of the vessel needed to be made before a salvage plan could be properly formulated.

That plan could involve pumping fuel from the vessel or removing some of the 470 containers on board, more than half of which are empty, the coastguard confirmed.

Those that are filled contain food, lumber and paper supplies.

The coastguard has also established a drone restricted area around the containership to avoid interference with helicopter operations.