Ships waiting outside the Welland Canal

St Lawrence Seaway lock workers in Ontario and Quebec went on strike on October 22 and when the Welland Canal was cleared out, the cargo ships had to wait outside the canal for successful negotiations to reopen the H2O water highway. Ships began to pile up on both sides of the Welland Canal - at Port Dalhousie in Lake Ontario and Port Colborne and Port Dover in Lake Erie.

People gathered along the beach to see the large contingent of ships anchored in place

A ship sits between Port Dalhousie and the Toronto skyline

On Sunday, October 29 both sides reached a tentative agreement and on Monday the 30th the canal and seaway opened to traffic through their respective locks. By Wednesday the backlog looked to be resolved as they pumped those ships through the locks as the floating parking lot was on the move again.

panoramas of the 14 ships outside of Port Dalhousie

The almost 400 workers were from the Unifor union and they operated 13 out of 15 system locks, including the 8 within the Welland Canal which connects Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. Luckily both sides worked fast to remedy the work stoppage with a mediated resolution, especially due to the economic impact the strike had to all those affected.

Ships gathered around Port Dover

Looking past the old canal entrance at Port Dalhousie

Ships have been in the Welland Canal since Monday, October 30. This one was near lock 8 moving cargo on November 1.

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