Amakusa Island arrives at Northland Terminal for repair work

Amakusa Island at Northland Dock --- NCR photo

Judging by the number of people that were hanging over the railing at the Atlin Terminal on Wednesday afternoon, for the next little while,  the Amakusa Island is going to be Prince Rupert's latest tourist attraction.

On Wednesday, the Prince Rupert Port Authority outlined the process of bringing the damaged vessel from anchorage off of Ridley Island, to its repair site at the Northland Terminal.

It's from that location that the coal carrier will be patched up by teams of divers and marine workers, making the vessel seaworthy for its journey back to Japan.

Those working on the ship will use metal plates to seal a tear in the outer hull, it's anticipated that the repairs will take two weeks to complete before the vessel will be able to set sail.

To transit the vessel through Prince Rupert harbour to dock, required the use of two tractor tugs from SMIT Marine and with a Marine Pilot on board to assist the vessel's master and crew.

The still visibly listing ship, is currently tied up at the cruise dock, making for a conversation piece and photo backdrop for local residents and visitors alike.

Work is taking place as those ashore watch and make comment from the Atlin Terminal as work continues on to repair the damage from the incident off of Ridley Island on July 14th.

Work will stop on the 29th of July when the ship will be moved to anchorage, so as to allow the Oceania Regatta cruise ship to take her berth at the Northland Cruise Dock.

According to the media release from the Prince Rupert Port Authority, inspections following the grounding confirmed that no environmental contamination occurred, though no government agency has as of yet, provided a public report on the nature of the incident.

The Transportation Safety Board dispatched a team to investigate the grounding, no updates have been provided from their work to this point.