Overloaded, unstable barge to blame for 2023 Iqaluit sealift spill

An overloaded sealift barge was a central factor in a 2023 incident that injured a worker and sent 23 sea cans into Frobisher Bay.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada released a report Tuesday into the spill that occurred while the NEAS ship Sivumut was unloading cargo near Iqaluit.

The Transportation Safety Board is an independent agency that investigates air, sea, land and rail occurrences. TSB reports include recommendations to improve the safety of transportation in Canada. They are not meant to assign blame, criminal or civil liability.

The ship, the report reads, anchored in the bay Oct. 23, 2023, after a five-day trip from Quebec. The following day, it began offloading its materials using tugged barges because the Iqaluit deepsea port’s single dock was occupied.

At 4:08 p.m. on Oct. 27, the tug boat Qimmiq was pulling the barge Tasijuaq, which was loaded with 24 sea cans. The barge tilted to its side twice before it began to capsize at 4:14 p.m.

The tug assistant and 23 sea cans fell into the water. As that was happening, a crane operator on Sivumut alerted a crew member, and a rescue boat was deployed a minute later.

The tug boat operator found the tug assistant unconscious and wearing a personal floatation device, at 4:19 p.m.

They rescued the worker at 4:23 p.m., and by 4:28 p.m. he was on a boat to the shore. He was taken to hospital to be treated for hypothermia. He was flown to Ottawa for further treatment before recovering.

A salvage operation began at 4:35 p.m. Seven of the seacans were not recovered before the end of the 2023 sealift season. During this season, NEAS said there were six cans still left to recover.

The TSB’s analysis focused on Tasijuaq’s load and stability.

With 24 sea cans, the barge was carrying 342 tonnes, beyond its capacity of 210 tonnes.

The Tasijuaq was operating in a “dynamic state,” due to the wind, waves, current and thrust from the tug boat, impacting its stability, the report said.

Other findings included that the Sivumut crew had a lack of knowledge of the barge’s weight limits.

It also noted that the tug assistant being equipped with a personal floatation device prevented him from drowning, and the quick rescue prevented him from “experiencing severe and life-threatening hypothermia.”

The report acknowledges NEAS has implemented safety measures since the incident, including the adoption of new guidelines for loading barges, adding recovery devices to tug boats, and new safety lines painted on barges.

The safety board’s report did not include recommendations, said investigator Janilie Raymond.

However, this incident showed the need for crew members and companies to consistently do their jobs based on proven safety standards.

“The crew should not assume an operation is safe because they have done it in the past. As well, the company should not assume crews know what they should do without official writing procedures,” Raymond said in an interview Tuesday.

“Safety management systems should reflect the actual working condition and operation on the vessel.”

NEAS CEO Dan Dagenais, who was on the Sivumut when the incident happened two years ago, was not available Tuesday to comment on the report.

Judith Lafrenière, NEAS’s communications adviser, said in an email Tuesday that the company is “reviewing” the TSB report and its findings.