Cargo ship runs aground after mistaking new SCC digital display for lighthouse

A 200,000 tonne Hapag-Lloyd cargo ship has run aground after mistaking the Student Campus Centre’s (SCC) newly-installed digital display for a lighthouse late Friday night.

According to the Canadian Coast Guard, the ship’s crew believed the bright light emanating from the screen must have been a lighthouse or some kind of maritime searchlight.

The ship’s captain apologized for the mistake, but provided an explanation for what happened, “I had never seen a light so goddamned bright, I thought I had died and gone to heaven.” 

“Anyone would have done what I did,” he added.

Hapag-Lloyd has said the Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union (TMSU) will be liable for the $350 million cost of losing the ship and the contents on board.

“I have tendered my resignation,” said TMSU president Nadir Janjua while boarding a flight to Juárez, Mexico.

The Abnormal School reached out to other TMSU executives for comment, but our emails bounced.