Rt-Hon-Paul-J-Martin

With the additional support of the tugs'Patricia Hoey' (IMO: 5285851), 'Tenacious' (IMO: 5238004) and 'Ontario' (IMO: 8980878) the 'Rt. HON. Paul J. Martin' could finally be refloated on Nov 8 at 2 p.m. LT. The ship was then able to continue the voyage to Quebec with an ETA as of Nov 12.

The 'Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin' ran aground on the Detroit River right between downtown Detroit and downtown Windsor on Nov 7, 2025, at 4 p.m., while destined from Sault Ste. Marie for Quebec City. The vessel had been underway with a cargo of iron ore when the crew made an unplanned stop in the Detroit anchorage to let a crew member off who was not well, so he could get to the hospital in Windsor. Once the sailor had been safely transferred to shore, the ship tried to get back underway, but strong winds and low water levels pushed it into the riverbed. The U.S. Coast Guard deployed personnel to monitoring the ship, which was stuck in pos.42° 20' N 083° 02' W. There were no reports of injuries, pollution or impact on marine transportation. A couple of tugs proceeded to the grounding site, planning to refloat the vessel on Nov 8, after low visibility hampered initial attempts on the evening of Nov 7. The first attempt to pull the ship off by the tugs “Ohio” (MMSI: 368067780) and „Minnesota“ (MMSI: 368343820) on Nov 8 failed. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/windsor-detroit-river-boat-stuck-9.6971912 https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/vessel-runs-aground-detroit-river https://upnorthlive.com/news/local/freighter-runs-aground-in-detroit-river https://www.ctvnews.ca/windsor/article/freighter-stuck-in-detroit-river/ https://eu.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2025/11/07/freighter-stuck-in-detroit-rive-near-renaissance-center/87154282007/

The 'Rt.Hon.Paul J.Martin' was refloated in the morning of Oct 12, after it was grounded for nearly a week in the St. Lawrence seaway. While the vessel has some damage, but that there were no injuries or pollution. 5200 metric tons of iron ore on board the vessel were offloaded onto three barges to lighten the vessel. The 'Rt.Hon.Paul J.Martin' was moved to Prescott, Ontario and expected to continue to Quebec City after repairs were made. An investigation was launched to find out the reason for the grounding. Report with photo: https://cnycentral.com/news/local/ship-grounded-in-st-lawrence-seaway-now-refloated

A salvage plan has been approved by the Unified Command overseeingthe grounding of the 'Rt.Hon.Paul J.Martin' on the St. Lawrence Seaway off Galop Island. Salvage operations were planned to start in the afternoon of Oct 10. An estimated 5,000 metric tons of iron ore has to be removed from the vessel and offloaded onto awaiting barges to lighten the vessel. The seaway in the vicinity of Galop Island will be closed to all vessel traffic during salvage operations.

Both salvage tugs have arrived at the grounding site of the 'Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin' near Galup Island in the St. Lawrence River in the afternoon of Oct 10. The 'Ocean Comeau' had arrived in the morning while the 'Ocean Echo II' passed Valleyfield, Quebec around 8 a.m. on its way to the stuck vessel. Barges were also on their way to offload cargo from the vessel which was resting opposite Red Mills in the town of Lisbon. Seaway traffic has been allowed past the ship while officials investigated the grounding. The Unified Command which has been set up meanwhile has approved the salvage plan.