Owners to pay $500,000 in environmental costs after grounding

The owners of the Clipper Adventurer", now the "Sea Advanturer", that ran into a rock shelf in Nunavut will have to pay nearly $500,000 in environmental costs to the Canadian government after a Federal Court judge ruled they were responsible for the grounding. In the same decision, Justice Sean Harrington dismissed a $13.5-million claim from the the "Clipper Adventurer" and its Bahamas-based owners, Adventurer Owner Ltd., who alleged that the Canadian government should have given them more information that could have prevented the crash. The decisions stem from an August 2010 incident, when the "Clipper Adventurer", carrying 128 passengers and 69 crew, struck an uncharted rock shelf near Kugluktuk. The Canadian Coast Guard's icebreaker "Amundsen" rescued the passengers after the "Clipper Adventurer"'s crew was unable to dislodge the vessel. It was eventually freed by four tugs and taken to Poland for repairs. The "Clipper Adventurer" and its owners claimed Ottawa failed to inform mariners about the rock shelf, and were seeking to be reimbursed for repair and salvage and loss of business, among other costs. The government's lawsuit sought damages to prevent, repair or minimize pollution from the ship's grounding. In his decision, Harrington said the Coast Guard properly warned the "Clipper Adventurer"'s crew of the rock shelf through a notice to shipping, which was not on board the ship. Harrington said the fault lies with the "Clipper Adventurer" for not seeking out the information, rather than a local Coast Guard station in Iqaluit for not providing it unprompted. The "Clipper Adventurer"'s owners argued that the crew could not have asked about potential problems, as they did not know there were hazards in the area. Harrington's decision said if the owners of the "Clipper Adventurer" fail to pay the damages, the ship must be sold to cover them.