Fishing vessel pumping water and heading to port after hitting ice off Nunavut

IQALUIT, Nunavut – A fishing vessel that was taking on water after hitting ice off Nunavut is now steaming towards Greenland under its own power.

Jerry Ward, director of fisheries for Iqaluit-based Qikiqtaaluk Corp., says the 76-metre factory freezer vessel Saputi struck ice around 10 p.m. Sunday.

Ward says none of the 30-member crew were injured in the collision, which punctured the hull in the ship’s cargo hold.

He says a Canadian military aircraft dropped four pumps that have helped remove the water that seeped on board.

Ward says the Saputi is expected to meet up with a Danish naval vessel that will escort it to port in Nuuk, Greenland, with an expected arrival around midnight.

Maj. Rhonda Stevens, of the Joint Rescue and Coordination Centre in Halifax, says the vessel is under control about 435 kilometres east of Iqaluit, and is being monitored by Hercules aircraft.