New York State Police News

All passengers have safely debarked a passenger vessel that ran aground and began taking on water in the Saint Lawrence River near Alexandria Bay, N.Y., Thursday afternoon.The U.S. Coast Guard said it received a report at 1:17 p.m. that the tour boat Island Duchess, operated by Uncle Sam Boat Tours, had run aground with 134 passengers on board for a day cruise. All passengers were transferred via responding assets from multiple assisting agencies to another USBT-operated vessel…

Scheduled for Thursday and Friday, federal, state, local and Canadian law enforcement partners will be brought together in a multi-agency exercise designed to prepare for and prevent cross-border terrorist and criminal activity on the Niagara River, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. There are no known threats against the area, but boaters may notice increased assets of law enforcement on the water. Organized by The Monroe County Emergency Management Office, the multi-jurisdictional exercise will be sponsored by The Department of Homeland Security.

Incident responders from the Coast Guard and representatives from the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation completed the salvage of the freighter that lost power and ran aground in the St. Lawrence Seaway, Tuesday, and have reopened the seaway to all vessel traffic as of 7:30 p.m., Thursday. The motor vessel Federal Kivalina was removed from its resting spot near the Thousand Island Bridge by a contracted salvage crew and two tugs from Montreal. Coast Guard personnel approved the salvage plan early Thursday afternoon and the salvage team immediately went to work to remove the vessel. Upon the safe removal of the Federal Kivalina, the SLSDC reopened the seaway to all vessel traffic, which had been shut down for more than two days.

Incident responders from the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and representatives from the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation continue to oversee the salvage and investigation of the disabled freighter that ran aground after losing steering Tuesday while transiting the St. Lawrence Seaway in the vicinity of Wellesley Island, New York. The motor vessel Federal Kivalina is currently anchored upriver, about one-third of a mile from the Thousand Island Bridge. There are no reported injuries to the crew and no reported pollution at this time.

The US Coast Guard Ninth District has responded to the Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship 'Federal Kivalina' which lost its steering while transiting the Seaway in the vicinity of Wellesley Island, New York. The Federal Kivalina, a 656-foot, Hong Kong-flagged freighter carrying 23,000 metric tons of canola seeds, reportedly dropped three anchors to bring the vessel to rest. The Coast Guard notified the New York State Bridge Authority of the situation, which shut down the Thousand Island Bridge for about 10 minutes as a precaution. Response crews from Station Alexandria Bay, New York State Parks Police, New York State Police, New York Department of Environmental Conservation, and inspectors from MSD Massena and the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation are either on scene or en route.

The Coast Guard is continuing to oversee the response to a motor tanker that suffered a hull breach to their ballast tank on the Hudson River near Stuyvesant, N.Y. Thursday. Coast Guard Sector New York was notified Thursday that the 600-foot motor tanker, Stena Primorsk, began listing after suffering a hull breach while transiting from Albany, N.Y. via the Hudson River, carrying light crude oil. The tanker is currently at anchor nearby in Stuyvesant Anchorage. The tanker crew reported that no pollution or injuries resulted from the incident. Coast Guard Auxiliary and New York State Police air crews performed over flights of the Hudson River and reported no pollution in vicinity of tanker.

NEW YORK - The Coast Guard is responding to a report of a motor tanker running aground on the Hudson River near Stuyvesant, N.Y. Coast Guard Sector New York was notified just after 9 a.m. that the 600-ft.motor tanker, Stena Primorsk, ran aground after it reportedly lost steering while transiting from Albany, N.Y. via the Hudson River, carrying light crude oil. The tanker is currently at anchor nearby Stuyvesant Anchorage. The tanker crew reported that no pollution or injuries resulted from the incident. Coast Guard Auxiliary and New York State Police air crews have performed over flights of the Hudson River and reported no pollution in vicinity of tanker.

U.S. Coast Guard personnel are on scene and monitoring the grounding of the 100-foot tug Commodore Straits, which ran aground while pushing two barges in the St. Lawrence Seaway near Keewaydin State Park in Alexandria Bay, N.Y., at about 5:30 a.m. Oct. 24. Although both barges are taking on water, no pollution or injuries have been reported, and the area has been determined safe for maritime traffic to pass at reduced speeds. After the Coast Guard was notified, a 25-ft Response Boat-Small and crew from Station Alexandria Bay, N.Y., immediately dispatched to monitor the situation.

It's been a rough year for tugmeets. Charleston, Boston, and Portland, whose Musters we've covered in the past, were respectively, skipped, canceled, and postponed. The World Ship Society tells us they'll be back next year with the Boston event, and the Portland muster, pre-empted by Hurricane Charlie, is taking place as this is written. We wish we could have gone north. While there are all sorts of good reasons to attend a tugmatch, we, being media people, think mostly about the good press they bring the business. The way things are shaping-up in such realms as national security, the price of fuel, environmental cleanliness and such, waterborne transport displays more and more advantage for the good of all.

The maritime industry makes local headlines when something goes wrong, but the headlines on February 21 went national. In a spectucular eruption of flame and smoke, the like of which New York had not seen since 9/11, an estimated million gallons of gasoline erupted from a barge near the southwestern tip of Staten Island. The barge captain and mate were killed in the 10 A.M. explosion, and a nearby worker at the ExxonMobil facility suffered third-degree burns. The New York Times the next day showed a plume of dense black smoke over the city, but reported that the calamaty had been quickly controlled. Almost certaiinly it was not the work of terrorists and, being a gasoline fire, The Times reassured, it could burn itself out without leaving a slick to endanger the birds.