Tuvaq sustains ice damage

Coastal Shipping's 16,683-dwt tanker Tuvaq (built 1977) is believed to have sustained ice damage while on route to the Northern Canadian town of Iqaluit.
Transport Canada confirmed the fully laden tanker posed no threat to the environment. The damage is understood to be in the mid-section of a water ballast tank.

"There is a pierce in the outside hull," said Wendy Bonvie of the Canadian Coast Guard. "It's double-hulled, so if the inside hull is not damaged, then nothing will leak."

The Canadian-registered ship is undergoing an inspection to determine if it is safe for the ship to return to St Join's for repairs.

"We don't know what happened," Said Dennis White, the general manager of Coastal Shipping's parent company the Woodward Group.

"We feel that somewhere along the route to Iqaluit, some first-year ice caused damage to the vessel," White added.

Coastal Shipping acquired the Tuvaq from Finnish tanker player Fortum Shipping in December 2002 for $3.1m.