The MSC Baltic III, which ran aground on February 15, 2025, has recently shown signs of spreading structural damage following severe winter storms in the North Atlantic. However, Canadian authorities believe it is unlikely that the wreck will break apart, but the environmental risks and remediation time remain significant.
It has been almost a year since the container ship MSC Baltic III, flying the Liberian flag and built in 2003 with a capacity of 2,748 TEU, had to halt its voyage from Montreal to Corner Brook (Newfoundland). The ship sent out a MAYDAY signal (a distress signal indicating an emergency) due to a power failure approximately 12 nautical miles from Islands Bay (Newfoundland, Canada), in the Atlantic Ocean. While the crew was anchoring the ship due to severe weather, the vessel ran aground in a remote bay at Wild Cove, west of Clark Harbor. Immediately after the incident, all 20 crew members were rescued and safely evacuated by a Cormorant helicopter.
The stranded ship raised serious concerns about the risk of environmental pollution as oil threatened to spill into the surrounding waters. At the time, explorations of the tanks revealed approximately 1,700 tons of heavy fuel and marine gas. Authorities immediately restricted the area to 2 nautical miles around the ship.
MSC Baltic III was reportedly carrying approximately 470 containers, 283 of which were empty. The cargo mainly consisted of food, lumber, and paper. Each container holding hazardous materials was marked for priority removal. Challenging sea conditions hampered rescue efforts. By early June 2025, improved weather conditions made the operation easier.
In the initial rescue operation, the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) removed a quarter of the ship’s containers and half of its heavy fuel. The fuel was heated and pumped into tanks on the ship’s deck. It was then transferred to tanks on barges and transported to Corner Brook, where it was loaded onto another MSC vessel. However, in December and January, prolonged snowstorms caused cracks to appear in the ship.
The prolonged severe weather caused the crack on the port side to spread toward the stern, the starboard side of the hull to buckle further toward the bow, and thick ice covered the deck, significantly impacting the superstructure load capacity.
To date, nearly 1,700 tons of fuel oil and lubricating oil have been removed from the ship, and 409 out of 472 containers have been unloaded. The option of refloating the ship intact is almost impossible. Surveys indicate that a rock formation approximately 12 feet (~3.6m) high has pierced the engine room, and another rock formation is in cargo to hold number 5, pinning the wreck in place. Dismantling is expected to take many years due to the complex location and harsh weather conditions in the area.
