Coast Guard SLSDC Complete Salvage, Reopen St. Lawrence Seaway

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.

Coast Guard investigators from Marine Safety Detachment Massena, New York, are currently investigating the cause of the incident.

The Coast Guard and SLSDC were notified Tuesday afternoon of the grounded freighter Federal Kivalina, a 656-foot, Hong Kong-flagged freighter carrying 23,000 metric tons of canola seeds.

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 responded to assist the vessel and its crew.