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Freighter loses steering, now sitting at anchor awaiting repairs in Seaway near Hammond

Posted 5/28/14

The Federal Kivalina sits at anchor in the St. Lawrence Seaway. U.S. Coast Guard photo courtesy of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation A Hong Kong-flagged freighter that lost its …

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Freighter loses steering, now sitting at anchor awaiting repairs in Seaway near Hammond

Posted

The Federal Kivalina sits at anchor in the St. Lawrence Seaway. U.S. Coast Guard photo courtesy of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation

A Hong Kong-flagged freighter that lost its steering during transit of the St. Lawrence Seaway south of Hammond and sits at anchor near the Thousand Islands Bridge.

The freighter Federal Kivalina, a 656-foot vessel, is anchored and is awaiting inspection and repair.

There are no reported injuries to the crew and no reported pollution at this time, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

A 911 dispatcher notified the Coast Guard yesterday at about 2 p.m. that that a freighter was adrift in the channel.

A response crew from Coast Guard Station Alexandria Bay was dispatched, along with members of the New York State Parks Police, New York State Police, New York Department of Environmental Conservation, and inspectors from a Marine Safety Detachment at Massena and the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation.

The captain of the vessel reported losing steering in the Seaway. The crew of the freighter dropped three anchors to slow its drift.

The Coast Guard notified the New York State Bridge Authority of the situation, and the Thousand Island Bridge was shut down for about 10 minutes as a precaution while the vessel was still adrift.

There are 22 crew members aboard the freighter. which is carrying 23,000 metric tons of canola seeds bound for Montreal.

The crew will remain on board as long as the situation does not worsen, according to the Coast Guard.