Authorities change plan to free stranded vessel near Vercheres [Video]

The Canadian Coast Guard announced on Sunday morning that a change of strategy was underway to salvage the vessel that ran aground on Christmas Eve in the St. Lawrence River, in the Verchères sector of the Montérégie region.

The refloating attempt launched on Friday did not work and a plan to evacuate at least part of the cargo is due to be finalised on Sunday by the ship’s owner, says Kariane Charron, from the Canadian Coast Guard’s Quebec office.

An operation to free the Cyprus registered MV MACCOA was launched on Friday morning, involving three tugboats and an officer from the Canadian Coast Guard’s Environmental Response and Marine Hazards team.

Eric Esclamadon, spokesperson for the Coast Guard, explained on Friday that plan A for refloating the vessel consisted of using the water jets produced by the tugboats’ propellers to remove the sediment accumulated along the ship’s side.

However, this attempt …