Boatnerd Discussion Forum

Very little is recoverable except the deck winches and the hatch-cover crane. The boom was badly warped by the conveyor belt fire spreading to the unloading boom.

The pilothouse is burned out so the electronics are destroyed. Would anyone want to use anything that had been in a severe fire where the safety of an item would be in doubt? I wouldn't

The engines may or may not have been damaged, though I think they are due to the tremendous heat and the flooding that occurred during the firefighting and the sea-valves being left open which resulted in the St. Clair sinking at her berth a day or two after the fire.

The forward anchor windlass may be salvageable, though who knows.

Remember, the ship was a constructive total loss, so if anything was salvageable then ASC would have attempted to recover those items before abandonment of the St. Clair to the underwriters.

The only item that is salvageable is the steel and of course that will probably end up at Stelco's steel mill in Nanticoke.

Pilothouse electronics would have been destroyed by the fire. I imagine the boom would have been warped by the heat from the belts burning. Not much may be salvageable in the after end due to fire and heat damage.

The boom was twisted from the heat of the fire don’t know if it’s salvageable. Also all the electronics in the pilot house and engines down below where also probably destroyed by the fire. You have to remember that this fire burned for like 2 days and was extremely hot as it caught all of the unloading belts on fire even out on the boom. There may be other things you mentioned that they could salvage and probably will.

Darryl wrote:Gut wrenching photos on Today's Boatnerd of the M/V St. Clair being dismantled. Wondering, it sounds like they are saving the boom, would other equipment be held onto like winches, anchor and chain, deck crane parts, possibly those three main engines, Cat generators or the bow / stern thrust, maybe pilot house electronics?

Nothing in the rear end would be worth saving as it was all destroyed by fire. Even the boom was was burning and was warped, so no way that could be saved either. Deck equipment is likely salvageable, forward anchor windlass, etc.

Can't answer your questions Darryl on the St. Clair however, Yes I too agree on your comments regarding "Gut wrenching photos of her seen being scrapped at Port Colborne now from that devastating fire that had ended her career unfortunately for her!" I got to thinking after I saw the photos, "Just what the inside of her must look like after that fire along with all of the water poured onto her to stop the blaze?" Then again we may not want to see either what the inside of her looks like now as I can only imagine and guess how horrible and terrible it must look down as far as below the main cargo deck along with the inside of what's left of the aft end cabin areas. I'll betcha the inside must be a sight to behold as far the damage from that fire is concerned! We all saw some of the photos of the damaged pilothouse afterward but, besides all of the window being blown out we really didn't see the extent of the damage inside of it then at least! I'll bet the pilothouse was just gutted out completely inside! Very sad and unfortunate to have her career come to end in that way.

The boom was toast. From pictures after the fire the forward end of the boom was twisted at least 45 degrees and mangled from the belt fire, so that is definitely done. I would say that the only possible equipment that could be saved would be some of the deck equipment such as the winches, oldman chocks, maybe bow thruster motor, etc., but the equipment in the aft block where the fire was is probably mostly if not all done as it was on fire for over two days, not to mention the water poured on everything to put the fire out. Electronics and all of that equipment is likely done as well. From some of the pictures of her still in Toledo, it could be observed that several of the old pilothouse windows were actually broken from the fire, opening everything inside to the elements.

The self-unloading boom was warped in the fire and would be useless. Maybe the motors for the conveyor could be salvaged.

The pilothouse was totally gutted and I don't think anything can be recovered.

The hatch-crane, deck winches and the anchor windlass weren't damaged (well, maybe the aft winches and anchor windlass were), the electrical components and engines would have been damaged by the fire or the engine room flooding due to the firefighting efforts.

I agree, Darryl, very sad to see the St. Clair being scrapped.

Gut wrenching photos on Today's Boatnerd of the M/V St. Clair being dismantled. Wondering, it sounds like they are saving the boom, would other equipment be held onto like winches, anchor and chain, deck crane parts, possibly those three main engines, Cat generators or the bow / stern thrust, maybe pilot house electronics?