Mama-Strength

Until the evening of Feb 17, 2017, the "Rio Tamara" that was to deliver a large cargo to Rio Tinto was caught in ice on the Saguenay River for more than a day, while three of the province's icebreakers were out of service. The ship was stuck at Eternité Bay on the Saguenay Riverin the afternoon of Feb 16. The situation had not changed since, and the company had already seriously gauged in its emergency inventory in the absence of the valuable cargo. Bauxite is the ore that is the basis of aluminum production. The icebreaker "Louis S. St-Laurent" was recently dry-docked at the Davie shipyard in Lévis for a few months. Two other icebreakers in the province, the "Martha L. Black" and "Des Groseillers", were not operational due to mechanical problems. The "Earl Gray" was due to arrive early in the morning of Feb 18 after a stopover in Cacouna. If the icebreaker proved incapable of carrying out the task, Rio Tinto might have to temporarily slow down its activities, causing obvious economic losses. The ship was finally able to reach its destination on Feb 18 after spending nearly 48 hours stuck in the Saguenay ice. French report with photo: http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2017/02/18/un-navire-de-bauxite-coince-dans-les-glaces-durant-48-heures