Barge stabilized, sent to shipyard
A listing barge that sent crushed cars and scrap metal toppling into the Selkirk Water last month has been stabilized and moved to the Point Hope shipyard.
The barge operator, Schnitzer Steel, said naval architects will continue to assess the vessel’s hull at the yard.
Mike Geoghegan, a media representative for the company, said all the cars that fell into the water will be removed.
“Some of them have been removed already, because they were a navigational hazard and to facilitate movement of the barge,” he said.
“Everything will be cleaned up — everything that went in the water, everything that was on the shore will get cleaned up.”
It’s still unclear how many cars entered the water near the Selkirk Trestle on Aug. 28, when the barge, owned by Seaspan, tipped from side to side. More cars fell into the water during work to stabilize the load.
A WorkSafe B.C. inspection the day of the incident found that the barge shifted in the water while being loaded with scrap steel. The crane operator, whose crane was on the barge, was uninjured and retreated to the shore.
“The barge came to rest at an angle whereby the starboard side was elevated approximately [six feet] above the port side,” the WorkSafe inspection report said.
Transport Canada said Thursday that it is continuing to investigate and will be examining the vessel’s stability assessment.
The B.C. Ministry of Environment said that Western Canada Marine Response Corp. is using a boom to contain debris and hydrocarbons on the water’s surface.
The ministry has said that the environmental impact appears to be relatively minor as metal-recycling companies are required to empty fuel from vehicles.