Boatnerd Discussion Forum

She will get fixed and repaired and return to service sometime in the near future that’s a fact! I’ve seen damage like this before to other ships and they are still yet running some of which are even older than the CSL Niagara as far as her forebody replacement in 1999 if you all will. Remember when back in 2000 in April, the American Mariner suffered severe damage when she was in Lake Huron? She had to offload into the Adam E. Cornelius. Anyway her bow was messed up yet she returned to service and she’s still with us today and she’s still sailing! Another example, remember years ago when the ASC ships the Buffalo hit the Detroit River Light and before that, the Indiana Harbor also hit a light or something on Lake Michigan? Point is, both vessels received massive damages and YES the bows were messed up and Yes each one was repaired and each one is still with us today. The Indy is still sailing today while the Buffalo now Algoma Buffalo is laid up in Port Colborne but, at least each were repaired and returned to service. Again, the CSL Niagara I’m sure can and will be repaired and returned to service in a matter of time! It will be a while though and require drydocking, repairs and steel replacement to her bow and the damaged area but she will be back operating soon then! Just my thoughts and opinions only on this matter and subject is all. Thanks.

Overall the damage does not look overly severe, at least from what can be seen in the photographs that provide no real indication of what structural damage was done behind the fractured shell plating. Taking the available photographs into consideration, I doubt that this is going to be a career-ending accident.

While the damage looks bad, its not unheard of for a ship to have collision damage from hitting a pier wall while docking along a canal wall. As a previous poster mentioned, she had been re-powered over ten years ago, I believe at Sturgeon Bay.

If the CSL Niagara had never been re-powered and suffered a major collision, say of the kind the Montrealais and Algobay had in the St, Clair river back in July 1980, then her status in the fleet would have been in jeopardy.

Thanks guest:
Thoughtful analysis regarding CSL Niagara forebody being already 25 years old and the re-power in 2013.
On those facts; I would guess they’ll mend her and send her out for another 5-8 years.
Am still wondering the cause. Do you think we’ll ever know?

With over 25 years on her forebody replacement, she's getting up there at this point (hard to believe that the early examples of Canada's fleet renewal program are already so old). So one can't dismiss this speculation out of hand I suppose. But having been repowered in 2013, I have to imagine that they planned to take her a fair bit past the 25 year mark.

I suspect she'll be back out by summer.

CSL Niagara showing nasty bow damage after a hit on the wall as posted here back on Tuesday. I believe she was upbound at Beauharnois. Does anyone have a possible reason for the incident? Is she worth the salvage/repair costs?