| Location | : Port Colborne |
| Date | : 30th September 2015 |
| Accident | : Collision |
The Incident: “Bridge 19” in Port Colborne will remain out of commission until at least Friday afternoon, after the cargo ship Lena J collided with it at about noon, Wednesday. A bent steel girder supporting the bridge deck as well as other damages were visible on the lift bridge Thursday, while workers dressed in orange coveralls were making temporary repairs to the Lena J – placing sheets of plywood over the broken bridge window, shattered during the collision.
St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation spokesman Andrew Bogora said no injuries were reported as a result of the collision. The cause and extent of the damage was still under investigation, he added.
“I’m not going to speculate as to the nature of the contact, that’s something that the investigators will look at,” he said in an interview from the Seaway’s Cornwall office. “That is a matter for the investigators, and we’ll have to wait for them to complete their work.”
Although shipping traffic through the canal resumed Wednesday afternoon, Bogora said the bridge crossing the Welland Canal on Main Street (Hwy. 3) will remain closed to vehicles and pedestrians until at least Friday afternoon.
Montreal-based Gresco Ltd. is acting as agent for the Lena J, an 8,388- tonne cargo ship from the Caribbean island of Antigua and Barbuda. A representative from Gresco said the company had an investigator aboard the ship Thursday morning assessing the damages. The ship was tied along the east bank of the canal, south of Clarence St., as repairs were underway.
He said the company would not be able to provide further information until after the investigation was concluded. The ship left Montreal at about 2:30 p.m., Sept. 28 en route to Burns Harbor on the southern tip of Lake Michigan, where it was expected to arrive Saturday.
Source: Erie Media
