The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has published its investigation report into a overloaded barge which led to a crewmember and cargo overboard in Frobisher Bay, Nunavut in 2023 due to and overloaded barge.
What happened
On 27 October 2023, the cargo vessel Sivumut was anchored in Frobisher Bay, Nunavut, while transshipping cargo to Iqaluit, Nunavut, using barges and tugs.
During transshipment operations, the tug Qimmiq departed the Sivumut while towing the Tasijuaq barge in an alongside tow.
The barge carried 24 shipping containers with one crew member stationed atop the containers.
Shortly after the tug’s departure, the barge listed to port and began to capsize, causing the crewmember and 23 containers to fall overboard. Eight minutes later, the crewmember was retrieved from the water by the Sivumut crew and then transported to Iqaluit for medical attention. Sixteen containers were later retrieved.
The investigation
As part of its investigation, the TSB performed a stability assessment of the Tasijuaq and found that it was operating beyond its stability limits, compromising its ability to right itself. While the barge had not undergone a stability assessment, and was not required to by regulation, the company did have a structural arrangement plan indicating the maximum allowable deck load. However, this plan was kept onshore, and the limits were not communicated to the crew. Without this information, the crew relied solely on previous experience to determine safe operating limits.
The investigation also determined that procedures for transshipment operations within the company’s safety management system (SMS) were limited and dispersed across multiple documents, and that informal operational practices had developed over time, reducing safety margins.
Following the occurrence, the company took several safety actions including developing third‑party loading guides for its barges, adding a transshipment procedures manual to its SMS, and installing recovery devices on the tugs.
Read the full report: TSB Canada report M23C0305