Cargo Ship MSC Baltic III Runs Aground Off Newfoundland, Crew Safely Evacuated

Photo by Marc Piché

The cargo vessel MSC Baltic III (IMO: 9241475) lost power and ran aground near Newfoundland, prompting an emergency evacuation of its crew. All 20 crew members was rescued.

According to AIS tracking data from ShipAtlas, the vessel was sailing from Montreal to Corner Brook, NL, when it encountered difficulties.

After experiencing power failure on Saturday morning, the 207-meter-long vessel issued a MAYDAY call. At this time, the MSC Baltic III was approximately 12 nautical miles from the Bay of Islands, Newfoundland.

The distress call was received by Traffic Services in Port aux Basques and Marine Communications.

Due to challenging weather and sea conditions, the vessel was unable to secure anchor. The ship later ran a ground in Wild Cove, west of Lark Harbour.

“All crew have been safely airlifted from the vessel by a Cormorant helicopter,” the Canadian Coast Guard reported. A total of 20 people were aboard at the time of the incident.

The Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Henry Larsen was on-site. Authorities are working together with response partners, and an investigation into the cause and extent of the incident is underway.

‍The latest AIS track of MSC Baltic III can be viewed on ShipAtlas, along with a weather layer map illustrating the challenging conditions: