The Canadian Coast Guard was forced to send help on Sunday as the ship formerly known as Jana was disabled and drifting — again.
The ship was tied up in Argentia in September 2014 after running into engine troubles offshore.
On Saturday, after three years of being stranded in Newfoundland, the crew of 11 people set sail for Romania.
The ship, now called the MV Baby Leeyn, made it 12 kilometres offshore before experiencing engine troubles and setting adrift again.
While adrift, the ship’s crew continued efforts to fix the engines. The Coast Guard told them to draw up an emergency response plan, which resulted in the crew calling for a tugboat.
Coast Guard officials said tug boat was able to attach a line to the drifting ship around 6:30 p.m., just as it closed within a nautical mile of the rocks at Cape St. Mary’s Ecological Reserve.
The vessel was initially secured by the Beverly M, a tugboat from Argentia hired by owners of the MV Baby Leeyn, but the towline was parted due to poor weather conditions, Jan Woodford, a spokesperson for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, said in a statement.
According to Environment Canada, winds are gusting north of 60 km/h, with waves topping six metres.
Woodford said a second tugboat contracted by the Canadian Coast Guard, the Placentia Hope, had secured the MV Baby Leeyn, and that it is anchored in 20 metres of water about 2.6 kilometres from land.
Placentia Hope will tow Baby Leeyn to Argentia overnight, accompanied by the Beverly M, Woodford said.
“Right now it’s west of the Cape so everything should be fine, especially with the tow line,” said Larry Crann, a deputy superintendent with the Canadian Coast Guard.
While there is no cargo onboard the Baby Leeyn, it is carrying 250 tonnes of heavy propulsion fuel and 35 tonnes of marine diesel.
The vessel had not declared a distress signal on Sunday, but Woodford said an environmental response team and equipment are currently in St. Brides, where they are establishing a staging area as a precautionary measure.
Crew struggles
The crew of eight Ukrainians and three Russians struggled while in Newfoundland after the Jana encountered engine problems while attempting to return overseas.
CBC reported the ship’s owners refused to pay them and many stayed in the province to fix the ship.
Sources say the ship’s original captain died in Placentia earlier this fall. It is unclear how many of the crew from 2014 were on board when the boat left on Saturday.
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Source: CBC
