Frozen in ice: Residents worry mystery sailboat will sink in St. John River

Residents around the southern New Brunswick hamlet of Browns Flat have been watching the St. John River after a mysterious sailboat showed up in the fall and never left.

The 13-metre vessel is now frozen into the ice near the Beulah campground, and residents are left worrying about the environmental implications and wondering how it could have been allowed to happen.

Rob Thom first noticed the boat in late September, anchored offshore near his waterfront residence in Lower Greenwich, a drive of about 38 kilometres from Saint John.

But last month, in the wake of back-to-back Monday storms, the wind moved the boat anchor and all farther upriver.

WATCH | Could this wooden sailboat end up sinking, polluting river with fuel?:

Questions become concerns as mystery sailboat becomes frozen in river

8 months ago

Duration 0:57

Residents of Browns Flat worry a 13-metre vessel stuck in the ice on the St John River is a safety hazard

Thom was hopeful the owner would get it out of the water before the river froze, but that didn't happen.

Now, he's worried about the safety and environmental impacts of it being frozen in the ice all winter.

According to Transport Canada's registry of vessels, the Not a Starship is owned by Jordan Douglas Tatton of Midland, about 44 kilometres northeast of Browns Flat.

The boat is 13 metres or 43 feet and made of wood.

Efforts to contact the owner, including through his church, the Wesleyan Church, were unsuccessful as of publication time.

Thom said snowmobilers often use the St. John River to get around in the winter.

"There is potential safety issues to snowmobilers,who tend to use the river and go at quite high speeds not really expecting to encounter anything."

Thom said there is a light at the top of the mast, but he's not sure of the power source for it, so he's not sure it'll last the entire winter.

Nor, he said, would the light be visible during heavy snowfalls or strong winds that would blow the snow around.

"It's not super bright. I do see it from my kitchen window on a nice night, but I certainly wouldn't see it in any kind of a snowfall or a fog or anything like that."

He said his main fear is that the boat will eventually end up on the bottom of the river.

According to registration records, the sailboat is equipped with a diesel engine.

Thom said he also heard what sounded like a generator when people stayed overnight on the boat after it arrived in the area.

He worries about the fuel and other engine fluids going into the river.

While the boat may survive the winter, it isn't likely to survive the ice.

Thom said the power of the spring breakup is incredible.

The combination of wind and ice have moved enormous rocks on his beach, leaving holes in the sand "a couple of feet deep or more."

He's also seen it push trees over.

"So I suspect it will break any anchor line that it's got on it and take it."

Rare to survive the ice

The general manager of the Saint John Marina said there are never any guarantees with winter ice.

"Depending on how thick the ice gets and how the currents are moving around it, there's obviously risk of the hull fracturing and caving in on itself," said Sarah Williams.

"But it might also stay perfectly fine all winter, but then get drug somewhere else with the ice movement in the spring," she said.

"There's so many different things that could happen," said Williams.

That's why the prudent thing for owners to do is to take their boats out of the water for the winter," she said.

Cindy Richards first noticed the boat in November.

"It was downriver a little farther. But those two storms that we had, those two Mondays back-to-back, it pushed the sailboat up to where it's at now because it dragged its anchor."

Potential boating hazard

The boat is now iced in, and Richards worries it will pose some problems for Beulah campground and to boaters in general.

"I mean when they have their summer camps there and stuff, there's a gentleman that takes the kids out tubing in that area there.

"So they're not going to be able to do that when that boat sinks, because no one's going to be able to boat through there."

She said the boat's two masts could become underwater obstacles to other boaters.

Like a lot of residents who have been watching the sailboat, Richards believes it will almost inevitably sink.

She said the ice is "going to smash into the wood and fibreglass and it's just going to break it up and it's going to end up polluting the river.

"And it's a shame because there's really no need of it."

Transport Canada has lead, coast guard says

Richards said residents reported the situation to government officials months ago.

Megan Gallant, a spokesperson for the Canadian Coast Guard, said on Tuesday that Transport Canada is taking the lead on the file.

On Wednesday, sheconfirmed receiving reports about the sailboat and said the coast guard "has been in contact with the owner," and personnel were on site Dec.11, 2023,"to conduct a pollution and hazards assessment."

"The assessment concluded that there is no risk of pollution or hazard to the marine environment at that time, and the case will be transferred over to Transport Canada."

In an emailed statement, a Transport Canadaspokesperson said the department enforces parts of the Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels Act.

"Transport Canada can deem a vessel abandoned if it is left unattended for two years, or less in circumstances where it appears that the owner will not return," saidKatherine Proulx.

"With respect to "Not a Starship", the vessel has been deemed to be neither dilapidated nor abandoned. Nonetheless, Transport Canada has contacted the owner to inform them of their responsibilities under the Act."

Richards is disappointed that more hasn't been done.

"We're all about saving the environment and stuff, but we'll all sit by and watch a sailboat that shouldn't be there in the river at this time of year that's gonna be smashed up from ice or storms."

Richards said something could have been done until about two weeks ago.

"It could have been taken down the river, but now the river's froze up and unless it turns mild and it opens back up again, but if it does, then someone needs to be responsible."

Exactly who that is remains to be seen, she said.

Environmental group also worried

On Tuesday, CBC News contacted the provincial Environment Department, which also regulates the removal of ice fishing shacks, but the department did not provide any information by publication time.

The Conservation Council of New Brunswick is also concerned about the pollution potential if the boat sinks.

"This is not the way to store a boat obviously," said Matt Abbott, the group's marine program director.

The "worst-case scenario," he said, is that the ice will damage the boat over the winter and it sinks.

It's then "at a high risk of spillage of diesel over time," said Abbott.

Even if the boat does survive the winter with itshull intact, Abbott said the power and weight of the ice will either snap its line or drag the anchor around. Either way, the boat will likely run aground and could be damaged in the process and still sink.

Abbott said his group plans to notify Transport Canada about the sailboat. He said they often work with the federal department in cases of lost or abandoned boats.