All charges dismissed against ship involved in 2015 English Bay oil spill
A judge has dismissed all charges against a ship that spilled 2,700 litres of fuel oil into English Bay in 2015.
A ring of oil was seen around the hull of the MV Marathassa while it was anchored in the Vancouver bay on April 8, 2015.
Although most of the fuel was recovered or dissipated within 48 hours of the spill, there was an environmental impact on the shores of English Bay and four migratory birds were smeared with patches of oil, Provincial Court Judge Kathryn Denhoff noted in a ruling released Thursday.
After an investigation by Transport Canada, the Marathassa was accused of discharging a pollutant into the waters and with discharging a substance that was harmful to migratory birds.
The Cypriot-registered vessel was also charged with failing to implement its shipboard pollution emergency plan by failing to take samples of oil in the water and by failing to assist with the oil containment.
Alassia Newships Management Inc., a Greek shipping firm, was also charged with a number of environmental offences, but following a ruling that found the company was not properly served a summons, the case against the firm was not proceeded with at the Vancouver trial.
The judge concluded that the ship did discharge a pollutant into English Bay that harmed the birds, but added that the incident was caused by two shipbuilder defects on the newly built vessel, which had only been in operation for three weeks.
“The two defects were not foreseeable to the owner or crew of the Marathassa and were only discovered after the leak of fuel oil was traced back to the area of the defects,” said the judge in a 76-page ruling. “Those defects were not foreseeable to the external auditors of the shipbuilding or to two experienced Transport Canada inspectors, who spent an entire day inspecting the vessel and searching for the source of the fuel-oil discharge.”
The defects in the high-level alarms and a valve were not foreseeable with all of the alarms being tested on a weekly basis and no concerns arising from the tests, said the judge. Debris in the valve was not apparent to the naked eye, she said. “It was only discovered when the crew, with the knowledge of the path of the spill, disassembled the valve.”
Denhoff said that the ship, which had been built in Japan, a country with a worldwide reputation for quality shipbuilding, also had extensive pollution-prevention systems in place and had conducted a comprehensive crew selection and training program.
“The training of the crew continued on-board the ship and the crew performed training drills and equipment inspections regularly throughout the voyage,” said the judge. “As such, the Marathassa has proven a defence of due diligence.”
Regarding the charge that the ship had failed to implement its emergency plan, the judge said that the Marathassa had, in fact, initiated the plan by taking samples of oil in the water and helping with containment.
“As a result, the Marathassa is acquitted of all charges.”
The trial began nearly a year ago and concluded in December.
Before its arrival in Vancouver the ship had travelled to Korea where it took on most of the fuel required for its journey across the Pacific. It was scheduled to pick up a cargo of grain in Vancouver.
Last year, then-Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson raised concerns about the fact that Vancouver was still fighting to recover $550,000 in costs incurred by the city to clean up after the spill.