Crews could be weeks away from pulling MSC Baltic III from Cedar Cove, Coast Guard says

Ship will be pulled in one piece and deconstructed on shore, says Bruce English

The Canadian Coast Guard says the majority of containers aboard a grounded cargo ship have been removed, and the ship could be only weeks away from being pulled to the shore of a western Newfoundland beach.

Bruce English, a senior response officer with the Canadian Coast Guard, told CBC Radio Tuesday that crews remain hard at work tackling the removal of the MSC Baltic III from Cedar Cove.

Just one of the 472 cargo containers aboard remains. The damaged container will be addressed later in the process.

The removal saw no significant release of contents into the environment, which English said everyone involved is thankful for. Several other parts of the ship, including the hatch covers and wheelhouse, have also been removed.

"This could [have gone] on for years and years and years here. It might have contaminated the ecosystem, the way of life, the fishing and stuff like this. So it's great to get that stuff out of there," English said.

The Baltic III has been aground in Cedar Cove, near Lark Harbour, since February 2025. U.S.-based Resolve Marine is leading the salvage effort with supervision from the Coast Guard, English said.

Resolve and the Coast Guard have said they hope the project can be completed by summer 2027.

English said teams are now finalizing the installation of 12 300-tonne chain pullers to move the ship from the cove in one piece. The Baltic III is 207 metres long and 30 metres wide.

Contract awarded for removal of grounded MSC Baltic III

Cedar Cove turns construction site as removal plans for grounded ship change landscape

"They'll pull the ship towards the shore. They're going to install a rock pad when the ship hits the shoreline … They'll start deconstruction of the vessel, put it into trucks and bring it into Stephenville for processing," English said.

"In the days and weeks to come, hopefully we'll see the ship being pulled to the shoreline and further work being done."

Once the ship is on the shore, English said the deconstructed parts will be processed and recycled by Newco Metals in Stephenville. The ship will be brought on a road that was built up onto the beach — which has drawn criticism from concerned residents in the area.

But both Resolve and the Canadian Coast Guard have promised that protecting the area and its environment is the top-priority.

"This is the way that the contractor has decided to go about it, and they've gone through the approval processes and the permitting. And I understand they'll put it back as close as possible to its original state," English said.

The Coast Guard is continuing to ask residents and summer tourists to stay away from the job site as teams continue their work.

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page.

With files from CBC Newfoundland Morning