Sea cans fell in water during transportation onto ramp: NEAS

Seven of the 23 shipping containers that fell into the water off Iqaluit’s deepsea port on Friday might not be recovered until next year, says NEAS Arctic Sealift’s chief executive officer.

In an interview Tuesday, Daniel Dagenais said the containers were being moved from a barge onto the ramp next to the port when the incident occurred just after 5 p.m.

Dagenais — who was aboard the ship at the time — noted it was “a beautiful day” with virtually no swell.

“There was nothing out of the ordinary to talk about on this particular day or on this particular time,” he said.

The containers were in transit when they slipped off the barge. Of the 23 that went into the water, 16 were recovered, Dagenais said, including some that washed ashore in Apex.

The rest are still in the water, including some whose location isn’t yet known.

Depending on the depth and exact location of the containers, they likely won’t be able to be recovered until next year because sea ice is already starting to form.

In an email to Nunatsiaq News, RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Pauline Melanson said no one has been charged with taking items from any of the containers that went overboard. She said the RCMP will not be investigating the incident.

Dagenais said NEAS is “conducting an investigation now with [Transportation Safety Board of Canada], as you might imagine, and then following the recommendations.”

He said the condition of the new deepsea port is not part of the investigation as to why the containers fell in the water.

He said he doesn’t have a dollar figure yet for the value of the lost cargo, but stressed there were no hazardous materials inside any of the containers.

“There is limited consequence to the environment,” Dagenais said.

Most of the contents were food, beverages, some equipment and mechanical parts destined for stores in Iqaluit. There were no contents destined for hospitals or essential services, Dagenais said.

In terms of insurance, “most of these, if not the totality of these bills, are fully insured by one or another party,” he added.

“It really depends on contractual agreements with one or the other receiver. After that, there’s a matter of replacement compensation that will occur over the next few weeks, indemnity that will be paid in between parties.”

Dagenais confirmed that a ship crew member involved in moving the containers from the vessel to the ramp fell into the icy waters, but was “quickly retrieved” by other crew and by a local boater who answered the man-overboard call.

“The assistance of local boaters and fishermen and hunters in the area were critical to save a few minutes to get our man to shore to get emergency and medical services,” Dagenais said.

The crew member was taken to the Iqaluit hospital and then transferred overnight to a hospital in Ottawa.

As of Tuesday, the man was in critical but stable condition, Dagenais said.

“As you might imagine, this was a severe trauma of cold water and ingesting water is not something simple and minor, but he’s being treated and he’s doing better every day,” he said.

Dagenais said he expects NEAS’s summary report to be submitted to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada by early next week. The board will then determine if an investigation is needed.

NEAS intends to fully co-operate with the agencies performing any investigation, Dagenais said.

In the meantime, he said the company is reviewing its cargo handling process that “this event does not reoccur ever in the future.”

“On a personal note, we were very anxious to first of all get our crew member to safety,” he said.

The second priority was to warn boaters and hunters on the water to be aware of the floating sea cans, especially Friday and over the weekend as the light was fading into night.

“The entire idea here is to make sure that none of these containers are responsible for another incident,” he said.

Being on the ship as the incident was unfolding, Dagenais said it was an “emotional” experience, having just recently been appointed CEO.

“But the crew was remarkable. Their response was impeccable. They were quick to react and they were very efficient,” he said.

“The overall sense of collaboration and assistance we got from everyone involved, from the coast guard to the Emergency Response Team, the boaters, was overwhelming.”