Victoria ship fire shows Canada not ready for marine disasters: TSB
• The Transportation Safety Board says it is concerned that gaps in Canada's preparedness for marine emergencies could pose a risk to vessels, the environment, and the health and safety of the public.
The board's report into the emergency on the container ship the MV Zim Kingston as it sat off British Columbia's coast says the incident “raised questions about the availability and capability of Canadian resources” in emergencies.
More than 100 cargo containers spilled from the ship in a storm in October 2021 in the water's off Vancouver Island, resulting in years of debris to wash up on the coast.
Safety board chairperson Kathy Fox told a Vancouver news conference that 97 per cent of the debris remains in the water or washed up on coastlines.
“The loss of a container can take seconds, but years later damage remains”
Less than two days after the containers fell from the ship and while the vessel was anchored off Victoria, a fire broke out in a container that had dangerous potassium amyl xanthate, which spread to other cargo.
The fire burned for five days.
The safety board's report says Canada does not have a plan to respond to events involving noxious substances, other than oil, and it also calls for a comprehensive guide to deal with ships that have rolled, like in this incident.
“In this occurrence, it was extremely fortunate that the vessel's manager had made pre arrangements for emergency response and there happened to be two suitably equipped vessels nearby,” Fox said. “It is important not to mistake this luck for emergency preparedness,” she added.
The report says that unlike the United States, Canada does not require prearranged plans for fire response or marine salvage, and the Canadian Coast Guard does not directly participate in putting out fires.
STILL YEARS AWAY
It says while some changes appear to be in the works, they are years away.
“In the interim, the board is concerned that there are gaps in Canada's preparedness for marine emergencies that exceed the response capacity of a vessel's crew, posing a risk to vessels, the environment, and the health and safety of the general public.”
The Greek-owned container ship tipped in high seas as it was about 50 kilometres south of Ucluelet, B.C., losing 109 containers into the ocean.
The report says the ship experienced what's known as “parametric rolling,” when it tipped 36 degrees, caused by a complex combination of factors involving the sea condition and the vessel.
“Not only is it difficult to predict exactly when a parametric rolling event will occur, but once extreme rolling starts, it may not be possible to stop the dangerous motions before negative consequences occur, such as container loss,” the report says.
It says there needs to be a focus on monitoring for the conditions that give rise to the rolling so that preventive measures can be taken.
In the case of the Zim Kingston, the owner had not developed procedures to manage the risk of such rolling, the report says.
The safety board's investigation says the Canadian government intends to create a single system to respond to all marine pollution incidents and Transport Canada is developing regulations to strengthen preparedness requirements for the industry.
The report says the changes could take another four years.