Cargo ship runs aground on western coast of Newfoundland, crew rescued without injury

Sarah Plowman reports on the dramatic rescue operation to save the crew aboard a container ship that ran aground along the Newfoundland coast.

LARK HARBOUR, N.L. — The Canadian Coast Guard is working through snow and high winds to assess and develop a plan for a 207-metre cargo ship that ran aground on the western coast of Newfoundland.

All 20 people on board the ship were safely airlifted from the vessel Saturday by a Cormorant helicopter after the MSC Baltic III reported losing power that morning.

Bruce English, a senior response officer with the Coast Guard’s Marine Environmental and Hazardous Response team, said in an interview Sunday that “protecting the marine environment is our biggest concern.”

The officer said that as of Sunday there are no signs of an oil spill.

“The vessel’s propulsion fuel is marine diesel, and the vessel is sitting on rocks on the shoreline. So we’re concerned that it may breach the hull, but at this point in time in time there’s no breach and no oil on the water,” English said.

He was part of a team that flew over the ship in a helicopter Sunday.

The Marine Communications and Traffic Services in Port aux Basques, N.L., received a mayday call from the ship that was near Lark Harbour, N.L. Saturday morning.

The MSC Baltic III was about 12 nautical miles outside of the entrance to Bay of Islands when it reported losing power.

The Coast Guard says weather and sea conditions were “unfavourable” and the ship was unable to secure an anchor when it ran aground.

The cause of the loss of power is under investigation.

English said the stormy weather and high winds are making on-water operations to assess the ship challenging. “Some pretty nasty weather arrived late last night,” he said.

Once weather calms, the ship will be examined to determine if it’s structurally sound and then a plan will be made for how to safely remove the vessel from the rocks.

“This is a precarious situation in a hard-to-access area and it’s winter on the west coast of Newfoundland... the winds are high, there’s a lot of snow,” English said.

The officer said the ship’s owner, who he did not name, is cooperating with the Coast Guard and they are working with a salvage company to recover and move the ship.

English said the vessel, which is 207 metres long and 30 metres wide, is carrying more than 400 containers and the ship’s owner is compiling a list of everything inside them that it will share with the Coast Guard shortly.

MarineTraffic, a maritime analytics website, says that the MSC Baltic III was bound for Corner Brook, N.L., from Montreal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2025.

By Lyndsay Armstrong in Halifax.