Oil leak shuts down parts of St. Lawrence
An oil leak from a bulk cargo vessel in the St. Lawrence Seaway Monday was expected to shut part of the waterway to traffic into Wednesday.
Canada Steamship Lines’ Richelieu, which was carrying wheat, ran aground near the Cote Sainte-Catherine canal lock south of Montreal Monday evening, Reuters reported. The accident punctured the ship’s fuel tank, leaking from 50 to 200 tons of bunker oil into the surrounding waters.
The leak had been contained on Tuesday, according to a spokesman for the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp, adding that six ships were at anchor awaiting completion of the cleanup.
The seaway links central North America via the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean and is a major shipping route for bulk commodities such as iron ore, steel, coal and grain.
Oil leak shuts down parts of St. Lawrence
