Canadian Miner

[Guest]

Not sure the rules, but there have been a lot of vessels over the years that drove ashore and left there, commerical and fishing.

As for ground tackle, that's a thing of the past for places like that, and if her double bottoms fill with water, that less reserve bouyancy and her tank tops aint that strong. It doesn't look good for the old girl now unfortunately.

[Brent]

I may have the wrong technical name--I will look for it today.

[Paul Beesley]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the referred to Act is US legislation. The wreck is in Canada and Canadian laws will apply.

Paul

[Dave2]

If you can't find it in the Canadian Shipping Act, Try calling the Receiver of Wrecks, 800 nr Transport Canada.

http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/marinesafety/oe ... u-1978.htm

[Guest]

The Miner will not be left there. Under the Abandon Shipwreck Act the ship will have to be removed.

I googled the Abandoned Shipwreck Act, and found nothing that suggests that the vessel must be removed. What I found was a piece of American legislation that is meant to protect historic shipwrecks from treasure hunters and salvagers by transferring the title of the wreck to the state whose waters it lies in.

Is there another Act that you may be thinking of?

[Diver Dan]

What of some of the Great Lakes wrecks, like the Francisco Morazan, or the Nordmeer? Those weren't even cleaned out for scrapping.

I don't know about the Morazon, but they went back to the Nordmeer several times over the years to remove fuel/oil products. Any time they saw seepage a big fuss was raised and remedial work was done. The Alpena News must have something in their archives, that was our daily paper when I lived in Rogers City.

A dive boat captain I know says he can tell when his divers enter the engine room on the Cedarville (if it is a calm day) as drops of lube oil start popping to the surface. Not much, but he pointed it out to me this summer. I'm sure lots of boats have residual stuff on them.

The sunken tug Jenny Lynn (Duncan Bay) had a bunch of cans of ether (starting fluid) stowed aboard. Some of them broke/leaked over the winter, and ruined the coatings on the lifejackets that were stored nearby - turned them into a sticky mass of goo.

[Brent]

The Miner will not be left there. Under the Abandon Shipwreck Act the ship will have to be removed. I assume that if it can't be moved and I still think with proper equipment it can, it will have to be cut up where it is and hauled off. As I see it no combined effort has been made to move the ship. A couple of big tugs and some ground tackle and she should come off. If the bottom is breached, she should still float on her tank tops assuming they are reasonably water tight.

[ashland69]

Just assuming that there's no way that the Miner will be able to be successfully pulled off the rocks, might it be possible to build a sort of cofferdam around her to protect her from wave action and cut her up where she sits?

[Guest]

If the Miner gets left where she is for the weather to take care of her, do the scrapers just walk away and the ship is left alone? Can a person get aboard to pick it clean or is there some kind of law against that?

[TWilush]

The Fayette Brown had been purchased by marine salvage for possible reuse, and then sailed under her own power before her tow. Undoubtedly there was still most of her oil/lube/by products aboard.

[Shawn]

Fayette Brown on Anticosti Island
http://www.vos.noaa.gov/MWL/dec_08/shipwreck.shtml

It would be interesting to know, given some 47 years since the wreck of the Brown, what sort of impact it had / has on the fishing and lobster industries in the area. I'm sure the regulations on preparing a ship for overseas scrapping were more lenient at the time and so she may have had more grease and oil aboard still, even in the form of sludge as has been mentioned. Did it impact fishing, and if so, how well has it recovered? It may give an indication of what might be expected if the Miner ends up remaining where she is.

What of some of the Great Lakes wrecks, like the Francisco Morazan, or the Nordmeer? Those weren't even cleaned out for scrapping.

[Guest]

Fayette Brown on Anticosti Island
http://www.vos.noaa.gov/MWL/dec_08/shipwreck.shtml

[Chris]

Isn't there another old laker rusting somewhere on the Nova Scotia coast?

[BobG]

" . . . And give her to the god of storms,
The lightning and the gale!"
--Oliver Wendell Holmes
"Old Ironsides"

[LeoA]

With the removal of the fuel for the generator and everyone safely off her, I suspect this is now a happy ending if what you say ends up being correct. I imagine many boatnerds and former sailors from her would prefer to see up slip to the bottom not far away from home waters rather than be cut up for scrap far away from the waters she sailed her whole life. An ending like what the Michipicoten had back in the 70's just seems like a much more dignified and proper way for her to go.

[fireman12]

Standard press release as the Cape Breton Post is reporting the exact same story .

The old girl is done . Knowing the ship and the area , the fact that seas are heavy enough to force the ` tug ` to seek refuge from the weather on the lee side of the island , and that the hull is reported now to be breached , I`d have to say that this will be the last stop for the once proud Maplecliffe Hall .

Any kind of movement of the hull on the rocks there will only cause more damage now , and as most of us know , when a ship is ashore , whether it is there on Scaterie , or on the rocky shores of Lake Superior`s Isle Royale , the wave action stresses are enormous , making hull breakup imminent . Talking about removable of ballast and attempting to get her off now is purely a face saver , any scrapping of that ship will be done there by Mother Nature . And if by some miracle she did come off , she would not be afloat for any length of time .

[Cosmic_Charlie]

The CBC reports that the Miner was inspected today and "its hull is now breached in several places."

The story from the CBC site:

An inspection Thursday of a ship that's been grounded on Scaterie Island since last week, shows its hull is now breached in several places.

The decommissioned bulk carrier M/V Canadian Miner was on its way to Turkey to be scrapped when it snapped a tow line in heavy seas. It was not carrying cargo and no one was on board.

Several attempts to budge the carrier have failed.

Flight surveillance does not show any signs of an oil leak, but water has entered the ship's hull.

The Coast Guard has ordered six tonnes of diesel oil and lubricants removed from the ship.

Local fishermen say they're worried old sludge in the hull will escape and contaminate their lobster grounds.

According to the Coast Guard, a plan to free the vessel is still being developed.

Transport Canada said its marine experts will be involved in the salvage operation to protect the marine environment.

The agency is also investigating to see if any rules or regulations have been broken.

[Vox]

The CBC reports that the Miner was inspected today and "its hull is now breached in several places."

[Guest]

Swell cause in areas where is a long fetch for the swell blowing against a area that the depth from from very deep to shallow, the edge along Bird Rocks is the same when you get northerly wind, and the Northeast wind on the Nord Ground.

[Guest]

What is a ground swell?