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The fishing vessel High Roller III is off the rocks at the Bay de Verde breakwater and on its way for repairs. It’s been several days since it first had to be abandoned by its crew.
The boat was moved at about 7 p.m. Tuesday, with a tug boat and tow line.
The successful attempt followed an earlier one that failed, a little after 6:30 p.m. In that case, the established tow line snapped, with the ship remaining stubbornly aground in the dark.
During the day, the boat was seen at the centre of a flurry of activity on and off, aimed at ongoing environmental protection measures and a plan to ultimately have the vessel moved to safe harbour for repair.
Specialized divers and the Coast Guard have been present. At least two large airbags were attached to the bow, and the Dalton Warrior tug boat was on site. When daylight was fading, it was unclear if an attempt might be made to move the boat.
Pumps were seen taking water off the vessel during the day. A reporter at the scene late afternoon did not see any sheen suggestive of oil or hydraulic fluids. The Coast Guard did do an initial assessment beginning Saturday when the vessel was first grounded, with no visible pollution reported.
In a statement to CBC News Tuesday morning, the Coast Guard said it was notified Saturday of the High Roller III taking on water near English Harbour and the CCGS Sacred Bay, based in Old Perlican, was sent to respond.
As the Coast Guard boat was towing the High Roller III, the decision was made to abandon the vessel due to water intake. Five crew members on the fishing boat took to the life raft, were taken in by the CCGS Sacred Bay and brought to shore.
Activity continued on and around the grounded High Roller III on Tuesday. (Curtis Hicks/CBC)
According to the Coast Guard, the vessel then ran aground outside of the Bay de Verde Harbour. The fishing boat contained about 10,000 litres of diesel fuel, as well as engine and hydraulic oil, in addition to more than 5,400 kilograms of cod.
The statement added the vessel’s owner brought in a tug, commercial divers and a contractor to help with ongoing salvage, refloating and fuel removal.
“The Canadian Coast Guard remains on scene with response equipment to support operations and to ensure an appropriate and effective response,” reads the statement.
CBC News previously reported the boat was grounded close enough to a seawater intake system for the Quinlan Brothers seafood plant that operations at the plant were temporarily put on hold out of caution, according to Robin Quinlan.
CBC was told the plant was preparing to process farmed salmon from Placentia Bay. The company wanted to be sure the plant’s wells and water system did not pick up any diesel fuel.
Quinlan said the plan was to resume processing operations Wednesday but they would not be sourcing water from their water system for the time being.
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