Self-Unloader Goes Aground on Delaware River in Philadelphia

 

The U.S Coast Guard is formulating a plan to safely refloat a Supramax self-unloader that grounded in the Delaware River near Philadelphia on Wednesday evening.

The Algoma Verity was northbound from the Port of Philadelphia when it went aground outside the main shipping channel on Wednesday night. The pilot of the 50,000 dwt self-unloader notified the Coast Guard of the incident at 6:30 p.m Wednesday, prompting a response to try and refloat the bulker.

A team from Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay and the vessel’s representatives are on board and formulating a plan to safely move the vessel to a nearby terminal, the Coast Guard said Thursday. So far, no injuries have been reported and there have been no reports of pollution. The cause of the grounding is under investigation.

A safety zone has been established around the Verity restricting vessel traffic from the Benjamin Franklin Bridge to Tioga Marine Terminal.

According to maritime tracking sites, the vessel grounded about one hour after departing port in Philadelphia. The ship was headed for Fairless Hills, Bucks County with a load of 45,000 tonnes of solar salt (a higher-purity grade than rock salt, made by evaporation).

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is also scanning the bottom around the Algoma Verity to identify any hazards and better determine the nature of the grounding. As of Thursday night, the vessel remained grounded in the Delaware River, just off Petty's Island. 

Built in 2000 and wholly owned by Canadian company Algoma Central Corporation, Algoma Verity is commercially managed by CSL as part of the CSL International Pool. The vessel operates mainly along the coasts of the Americas.

CSL is the world’s largest owner and operator of gravity self-unloading vessels. The company currently operates a fleet of 45 self-unloaders ranging from Handysize to Supramax.