CORNWALL: The Transportation Safety Board sent a team of investigators to the St. Lawrence River Tuesday to explore the circumstances surrounding the capsizing of two tugboats near Cornwall.
The tugboats both sank Monday in conditions that included choppy water and heavy currents.
The first boat, named the Lac Manitoba, capsized at approximately 4:00 p.m. There was one reported injury after the first incident, in which a crew member on a nearby barge was removed from the scene by ambulance and taken to hospital. The injury was believed to be minor.
The second sinking was first reported four hours later at approximately 8:30 p.m. after an unsuccessful attempt to secure a barge to the dock left the LCM 131 tugboat caught up in the current and unable to get out of it.
The crews of both boats were able to escape before the vessels became fully submerged.
According to TSB spokesman John Cottreau, the board will be looking at “the history of both vessels, the crew complement, all of the qualifications, all of the certifications that go along with operating a tugboat (and) the organizations that operate the tugboats” in order to determine the next steps that need to be taken.
The board will also consult with the Department of the Environment, the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority and Transport Canada to determine the best way of recovering the two vessels.
Both boats were in the area to assist in the demolition of the Seaway International Bridge, which closed in January 2014 and is slated to be fully demolished by 2016.
The Cornwall Police also sent out an advisory to the public Tuesday, requesting that they avoid the area surrounding the boat launch behind Royal Canadian Air Force Wing 424 “until further notice.” The boat launch, which is near where the incidents occurred, may be attended by recovery and emergency vehicles as well as heavy machinery and equipment to salvage the boats.
