SHIPS TO REFUEL IN ENGLISH BAY
Fears raised over new port rules allowing ship-to-ship bunker refuelling in open water
With a recent oil spill fresh on peoples’ minds, there is another reason to be worried about English Bay, says a Vancouver researcher.
Eoin Finn, who calculates risk assessments for a living, told The Province that a larger spill is “certain” to happen on the bay.
Finn has discovered new rules that permit the world’s biggest ships, the Cape class, to refuel just two kilometres off Point Grey Road near the University of B.C.
In the past, Vancouver Harbour has always sufficed for refuelling — ships are mostly tied up at dockside, not bouncing around in the open water with a refuelling tanker.
“A spill is dead certain to happen. History proves it,” said Finn, a former partner at KPMG. “This is not like a spill in Vancouver Harbour. The region’s most popular beaches are on English Bay.”
Ships greater than 275 metres in length have been entitled to refuel at sea since January 2013, but that hasn’t been widely known.
The operation is ship-to-ship. The fuel comes on a barge, which is equipped with a fuel tank, hose and pump, and everything is towed to the scene by a tug.
A high-pressure line is pitched six-metres high to a fuel spout and the transfer of bunker oil begins.
It’s the same heavy fuel that washed ashore April 8 after the MV Marathassa leaked 2,700 litres into the bay. At that time, officials were criticized for a slow response that allowed globules of oil to foul beaches and birds.
Finn said barges can carry up to 3,500 tonnes of fuel, which is 1,400 times as much oil as the Marathassa spilled.
“Bunker oil is nasty,” he said. “About 90 per cent ends up in clumps, which get stickier as they weather.”
Tony Toxopeus, a retired Canadian Coast Guard captain, said service operations at sea are harder to pull off than those on shore.
“It’s obvious there’s going to be a higher risk of a spill,” he said. “All it takes is a broken hose or a bad coupling. If a pressurized line bursts, a spill will happen really quickly.”
Port Metro Vancouver, a federal body controlled by the federal government, was given three days to provide information about its new regulations.
The questions concerned the public process; whether a risk assessment was done and what it said; and why the changes were made.
The port didn’t provide a traditional interview with a person. In a lengthy, emailed response from its spokesman, the port said new anchorages were needed “to allow for better management of vessel traffic in the inner harbour, where anchorages for larger vessels are limited to two.”
It said the four anchorages off Point Grey Road were also needed for ships using Roberts Bank, where refuelling isn’t allowed.
The port said a risk analysis was conducted, but it wouldn’t provide the results.
It said a notice was posted on its website before approving the regulations and the public was given a 30-day comment period. Since the regulations came into effect, one ship has been refuelled on the bay.
Finn believes most people weren’t aware the changes were in the works. He said there would have been objections if the notification had been widely published, which is mandated for municipal public hearings by law.
“It’s despicable. This is not responsible behaviour,” he said. “This won’t be overturned unless the federal government changes it ... A multibillion-dollar tourism industry is being put at risk — and for what?”
A presentation will take place today, 7 to 9 p.m., at the Jericho Sailing Centre, 1300 Discovery St. in Vancouver. The port’s operations manual can be viewed at http://bit.ly/1e43IUB.