The Spar Opal lies aground at the upper entrance to the Iroquois Lock on the Saint Lawrence Seaway in Ontario, Canada on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2006. Photo from the New York, U.S.A. shore of the Seaway. According to accounts posted on www.boatnerd.com at 8:40pm on Monday, Nov 27 the Spar Opal lost power on its approach to the Iroquois Lock. Although its anchors were dropped the strong current pushed the bulker aground. By a somewhat bizarre set of circumstances another salt water vessel, the Golden Eye, also became grounded near the downstream entrance to the lock. The ship was eventually freed by Thurs Nov 30 by tugs. I came across the Spar Opal by pure chance -- I was driving from my summer cottage in Vermont (yes, I know it is not summer anymore!) and had overnighted in Massina, New York so I could drive along the St. Lawrence in the morning and then drive 700 miles to Ohio during the rest of the day. I thought it strange that the Spar Opal was anchored where it was and also strange that it was not facing into the wind and the current which at this time were from the same direction. When I saw the vessel I pulled off the highway and took a few photos then continued my journey, congratulating myself on my good fortune of seeing the ship. This morning, Nov 30, I consulted the boatnerd website before going to work and found out why the Spar Opal wahs in such a strange location. The Spar Opal is no stranger to the Great Lakes. Owned by Spar Shipping AS of Bergen, Norway, the Spar Opal is chartered to Fednav Ltd of Montreal which has a major presence in the Great Lakes. Again, both photos and a description of the groundings are posted on www.boatnerd.com. Click on the "News Channel" section and scroll down. Also, the U.S. Border Patrol was paying special attention to the ship --- their helicopter patrol kept circling the vessel while I was taking photos but I could not get the helicopter in the same photo with the ship.