Disabled Freighter in St. Lawrence Seaway: Update

After losing steering Tuesday and emergency anchoring it has now been established that the 'Federal Kivalina', a 656-foot Hong Kong-flagged vessel is aground.

The freighter is currently anchored upriver, about one-third of a mile from the Thousand Island Bridge. Vessel traffic has been suspended. There are no reported injuries to the crew and no reported pollution at this time.

Incident responders from the Coast Guard, in partnership with the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, are overseeing the salvage and investigation.

A dive team conducted an underwater hull survey Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning and determined the vessel was aground but stable.

A contracted salvage team is en route to the scene. Once there, they will review the hull inspection report as well as current weather and water conditions as they develop a plan for safe removal of the vessel.