How exactly do you get the 117-year-old James Whalen Tug out of the Kaministiquia River?

That’s the question for city staff as talks continue with local companies on how to raise the boat and move it to a storage location where it can be assessed for damages.

The vessel sank on Sunday, May 1st and is now sitting at the bottom of the waterway.

Manager of Parks and Open Spaces Cory Halvorsen didn’t want to speculate the cost of the project, but says a number of options or approaches are being considered.

“It’s not something that we could just select someone and deploy them in short order,” Halvorsen noted. “At first it seemed like that may have been an option but as we looked into it more we realized that there is a planning component to it that has to be undertaken.”

Halvorsen released a statement to council on Monday, May 2nd, which detailed the history surrounding the tug, including installing a submersible pump to manage potential leaks/infiltration.

Site observations just hours before the sinking reported the boat appeared to be upright and not out of position.

 

With files from Katie Nicholls and Kevin Jeffrey