Engine response issue causes SS Badger
to scrape sister ship Spartan while docking

LUDINGTON, MI – While backing to the loading apron in the usual manner last Wednesday evening, the engines of the SS Badger did not respond as ordered by the captain operating the engine order telegraphs, according to Lake Michigan Carferry spokesman Thom Hawley. The mechanical failure caused the vessel to collide with its permanently moored sister ship, the SS Spartan, in Ludington Harbor.
   The incident occurred around 6:50 p.m. No injuries were reported among passengers or crew.
   Marine engineers inspected the vessel following the collision. The damaged sea gate was removed, and the ship resumed its normal sailing schedule Thursday morning. The Badger sailed out of Ludington on its regular 9 a.m. departure for Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
   “The sea gate has no function in loading or unloading the Badger. Its sole function is to prevent very high-water ingress onto the car deck and the ship can operate normally without it,” Hawley said. He added that marine engineers are considering how best to replace the damaged section.
   “The SS Badger has a remarkable safety record,” Hawley said. “We will continue to review the incident to continually improve our operational standards and the valuable service we provide our passengers.”
   The SS Badger continues its daily service between Ludington and Manitowoc, Wisconsin, with the 2025 sailing season scheduled to end Oct. 12.

Shoreline Media

Inclement Weather Delays Salvage Efforts of Grounded Vessel ‘Thamesborg’ in the Canadian Arctic

Malte Humpert
September 17, 2025

   Ten days after hitting a shoal along Canada’s Arctic Northwest Passage Dutch-flagged general cargo vessel Thamesborg remains aground. Operator Wagenborg continues to stage for the salvage operation, but inclement weather forced a temporary delay of some operations. Photos show the vessel enveloped in thick fog.
   Local sea ice conditions should remain favorable for several more weeks to come. The annual Arctic Ocean ice minimum usually occurs around the middle of September before sea ice makes a return starting sometime in October.
   A salvage master and naval architect as well as the first set of salvage equipment and additional staff have arrived on site, the company announced.
   “Remaining salvage equipment and staff is underway to the site and expected to arrive within 7 days,” Wagenborg stated.
   A salvage plan has been submitted according to the latest update by the Canadian Coast Guard, which remains on site with CCGS Des Groseilliers. Another Coast Guard vessel, CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier, has been released after shuttling equipment and personnel to the incident site.
   Further inspection of Thamesborg again confirmed that no fuel spills have occurred and the fuel tanks and cargo holds remain intact. A number of ballast tanks sustained damage and experienced flooding.
   A new set of photos released by the Canadian Coast Guard shows the vessel listing to starboard.
   The Thamesborg incident is the second grounding along the NWP this summer. Last month Canadian cargo ship Rosaire A. Desgagnés ran aground in Pelly Bay, Nunavut on a supply mission, but was able to be refloated during high tide.
   Similarly, in 2018 cruise ship Akademik Ioffe used the flooding tide and its own propulsion to lift off a shoal in Canada’s Gulf of Boothia.
   Water levels between low and high tides in Franklin Strait, where Thamesborg ran aground, vary by around 60 centimeters, according to the tide schedule of the Canadian Hydrographic Service.

gcaptain

UPDATE:  Two Salvage Vessels Arrive in Canadian Arctic to Begin Refloating of Grounded ‘Thamesborg’

Malte Humpert
September 22, 2025

   A tug and an ice-class cargo vessel have arrived in the Canadian Arctic to begin efforts to refloat the Dutch-flagged Thamesborg. The 21,359-dwt vessel has been aground on a shoal along the Northwest Passage since earlier this month.
   Thamesborg was carrying a load of carbon blocks from Lianyungang, China to Baie-Comeau, Canada when the modern ice-class vessel struck a shoal in the Franklin Strait. Parts of Canada’s Arctic waters remain poorly mapped with many surveys conducted decades ago and at low resolution. Shipping experts point out that the usual shipping lane passes further west through the Strait. It is unclear why Thamesborg selected an easterly route.
   The 450 tonnes tug Beverly M I was dispatched from Belledune, New Brunswick on September 9 arriving at the incident site over the weekend. With 4,000 horsepower the tug has a bollard pull of 71 tonnes. The same tug assisted Wagenborg’s general cargo ship Tiberborg when it went adrift in Baffin Bay in mid-August. Beverly M I escorted Tiberborg back to Baie-Comeau.
   In addition to the tug a Norwegian-flagged ice-class reefer cargo ship has now arrived alongside Thamesborg. The 4,230-dwt Silver Copenhagen traveled from the Baltic Sea with a stop in Greenland’s Nuuk. It has a 1B ice-class, key to safely operating in the Canadian Arctic as winter sea ice will start to return in the coming weeks.
   With a draft of just 6 meters Silver Copenhagen was able to safely pull up alongside Thamesborg to facilitate the transfer of its cargo
   “Weather permitting, it is expected that the first part of the salvage operation will start over the course of this week with part of the cargo of Thamesborg being transshipped to one of the attending salvage vessels,” the vessel’s manager Wagenborg stated. Inclement weather forced a temporary delay of some operations last week.
   A third salvage vessel is also underway to the incident location and will assist in the last part of the salvage operation, according to the company.
   Coast Guard officials approved the company’s plan for the safe refloating of the ship last week. The  icebreaker Des Groseilliers remains on standby in the vicinity as well. Continuous inspection of Thamesborg through ROV surveys confirms that fuel tanks and cargo holds remain intact.

gCaptain