Welland Canal Ship Traffic Resumes

Two-way marine traffic resumed Monday night on the Welland Canal in Ontario, Canada after a power outage on Sunday led to a temporary suspension of navigation.

The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC), which manages and operates the Canadian assets of the St. Lawrence Seaway, said its maintenance personnel and contractors were able to restore service to Lock 1 by Monday afternoon and reopen Lock 7 by 10:30 p.m. that night.

No one was harmed at any point during the outage or repair operations, according to SLSMC.

Transits through Locks 1 will proceed with hands-free mooring, while transits through lock 7 will be temporarily supported by line-handlers until such time as the damaged hands-free-mooring units can be repaired, SLSMC said.

The 27-mile-long Welland Canal connects Lake Ontario and Lake Erie as part of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Each year, about 3,000 ships carrying about 40 million tonnes of cargo travel through the canal.