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Two ships collide in Welland canal

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WELLAND, ON., July 12, 2020 — Two cargo ships collide in Welland Canal — Yesterday, at around 4 pm two massive freighters collided head-on in the Welland Canal near Thorold.

A report by the Welland Tribune says “St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp.’s Jean Aubry-Morin, vice president of external relations, said the collision took place at 3:55 p.m. south of Port Robinson and is now under investigation by seaway officials.”

In a video posted to social media, the two huge vessels, the MV Alanis and the Florence Spirit, one carrying windmill parts, and the other carrying coal, can be seen slowly advancing towards each other.

Two ships collide in Welland Canal near Thorold, Saturday July 11, 2020. Screen capture from video by Jeremy Barton.

As both ships were travelling were on a crash course the Florence Spirit begins moving left and collides with the right bow near the anchor of the MV Alanis.

According to National Maritime boating rules, “When two power-driven vessels are in crossing situation on a collision course, give way to the vessel to starboard (right). The give way vessel must take early and obvious action to avoid a collision by either stopping or altering course to starboard. In this situation it appears that the Florence Spirit moves to the port side and the MV Alanis does not alter course at all.

No one was hurt, and both ships sustained a great deal of damage.

According to local radio station 610CKTB, following the collision both ships were towed to two different locations, one in Port Colborne, and the other in Thorold.

Photos of the damage and a map illustrating where the collision took place were posted on Twitter by Welland Firefighters L481. Their post included incredible video footage taken by Jeremy Barton.

https://twitter.com/WPFFA_481/status/1282076222994907137

A full investigation is now underway.

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