Coast guard working to retrieve drifting tanker carrying 8 million litres of petroleum

PORT AUX BASQUES, N.L. – The Canadian Coast Guard is monitoring a tanker carrying eight million litres of refined petroleum and additional fuel that lost steering off the southwest coast of Newfoundland on Thursday morning.
The Jana Desgagnes sustained damage to its rudder southwest of Port aux Basques while en route to Montreal.
The coast guard said in a statement Friday that no pollution has been released and the vessel and its 17 crew are not in immediate danger.
Coast guard ice breakers arrived on the scene Thursday night and have remained in the area since then.
The vessel was about 27 kilometres from Cape Ray, N.L., as of Friday afternoon and is being watched by coast guard and environmental response specialists.
Ice conditions have slowed the recovery process but a commercial tugboat is en route and officials say the plan is to tow the vessel to port in Sydney, N.S.