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Johnson Newspapers

Waddington - The Village of Waddington is ready to host a Bassmaster Elite Series Tournament, and an expected 30,000 visitors, from July 30 to Aug. 2.

But the Evan Williams Bourbon Tournament on the St. Lawrence River, which was expected to generate $3.8 million for local economy, was threatened by the salvage operations of two tugboats which sank in the St. Lawrence River near Massena on June 22. The tugs sank while towing a barge in the channel near the bridge which connects Cornwall, Ont. to Massena.

After discussions with government officials and representatives from agencies on both sides of the border the International St. Lawrence River Board of Control decided to postpone the salvage operations on Thursday afternoon. The suspension of the salvage efforts allows the Bassmasters Elite Series to stage a tournament in Waddington for the second time in three years.

Delays to the salvage operations and the removal of fuel from the tugs began on July 7 and posed a threat to the tournament because the salvage site was close to the Eastern border of the tournament’s fishing waters.

New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office announced on Thursday afternoon that cooperative international efforts between local, state and regional officials and agencies and the Bassmasters Team led to the suspension of the salvage efforts.

“Today, the International St. Lawrence River Board of Control decided to temporarily postpone the salvage operations of two sunken tugboats downstream of the Robert Moses Dam – operations that would have otherwise forced the cancellation of the upcoming Bassmaster Elite Series competition in the Village of Waddington,” read a statement from Gouv. Cuomo’s Office.

“The Bassmaster competition is poised to attract more than 30,000 visitors to the region and generate up to $3.8 million for the local economy, so it is essential that the competition go on as planned, and our administration lobbied heavily alongside multiple partners in government to ensure that the competition would not be disrupted.”

According to the governor’s statement Waddington Mayor Janet Otto-Cassada and Town of Waddington Supervisor Sandra Wright worked closely with the representatives of the U.S. State Department, the Canadian Government, the U.S. Army Corps, U.S.-Canada International Joint Commission, the International St. Lawrence River Board of Control, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, NCREDC Co-Chair Garry Douglas, and the Bassmasters Team.

“I would like to thank everyone who worked tirelessly with our administration over the last 24 hours to reschedule these salvage operations,” said Gov. Cuomo in statement from his office.

“Because of our collaborative work, the Bassmasters will go on as planned, and I encourage people to visit St. Lawrence County for this great competition.”

In conjunction with the Bassmasters Elite Tournament, which will involve 108 anglers, the Village of Waddington will also host “The Party In the Park” adjacent to the weigh-in stage. The party will include vendors of all kinds and top flight entertainment throughout the tournament days.

At the 2013 Bassmaster Elite Tournament in Waddington the formula drew fan involvement of over 34,000 which set a Bassmasters Elite Series record.

Dave F wrote:How sad to listen to the idiots making a big joke about this incident during the video. Perhaps they would not have thought it to be quite so funny if they were on that vessel.

You are so right. At first I was reluctant to post the video due to the dialogue. Don't know if the audio illustrates ignorance or indifference on the part of the people witnessing a near tragedy.

Why are they not allowed to have bunks? I see plenty of small tugs with them, though not many commercial.

Well not quite. The tug is old. The regulations, as they now stand, would not let the company have sleeping quarters below deck, as was the case presently. How Nadro got away with renovating the tug a few years ago that allowed that, is beyond most people (who know the current regs.) imagination. They slipped thru the cracks somehow, and I'm sure Transport Canada Marine Safety would not allow that nonsense to happen again.
The hull of the Lac Manitoba might make a decent "day boat" for harbour work, but thats about all it would be good for.

How sad to listen to the idiots making a big joke about this incident during the video. Perhaps they would not have thought it to be quite so funny if they were on that vessel.

Jared wrote:I would not be surprised if the Lac Manitoba is scrapped. Look at he damage to the aft superstructure when she rolls the first time.

I doubt she will get scrapped. unless the hull is severely damaged, it would be in Nardo Marines best interest to fix the damaged superstructure and put it back in service

I would not be surprised if the Lac Manitoba is scrapped. Look at he damage to the aft superstructure when she rolls the first time.

Here's a link to a video showing the Tug Lac Manitoba rolling over.

It's from the Cornwall ON Seaway News website.
http://www.cornwallseawaynews.com/News/ ... n-Bridge/1

Photo of Lac Manitoba on the St. Clair River in August 2013.

To give you an idea of the power of this section of the river, the average flow rate is 237,000 cubic feet per second. Therefore, in just a mere four and one half seconds, more than a million cubic feet of water has passed through the control dams located at Cornwall. There is a diversion channel just above the area where the tugs capsized, but still, this is a rapid which runs strong at all times.

That current looks pretty strong in comparison to the vessel operating around the barge. Is the current in this stretch of the St. Lawrence always this strong or has there been heavy rains in the area? It just seems from the footage that the vessel shown being capsized was underpowered for the task.

CTV News report showing the second vessel that capsized in Cornwall on Monday. I find it amazing that two vessels capsized and the worst injury appears to be a broken ankle.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/video?playlistId=1.2435116