A U.S.-bound cargo ship was damaged and is taking on water near Bella Bella on B.C.’s Central Coast, officials say.
The Canadian Coast Guard said it received a report from the Malolo tugboat around 10:15 a.m. PT Tuesday that the freight barge it was loading was taking on water.
Officials say the boat was going from Alaska to Seattle, Wash., when it was damaged, and there were no reports of pollution as of Tuesday night.
William Housty, the director of the Heiltsuk First Nation’s integrated resource management department, told CBC News that they received reports that the barge was taking on water in the Fisher Channel, around 15 kilometres east of Bella Bella.
“The dive surveys showed that the hull on one part of the barge was compromised, so they must have hit the ground at some point,” he said.
Housty said around 4 p.m. PT that the barge was in a “pretty exposed, vulnerable area,” and the Central Coast was expecting rain and wind in the next 24 hours.
“Currently, our team is working together with the ship captain and the Canadian Coast Guard to have the tug and barge moved to a nearby anchorage, where we will have it in safe harbour and put some precautionary oil boom around the vessel,” he said.
The Canadian Coast Guard said in an update after 4 p.m. that the barge remained stable and was not actively continuing to sink.
Alaska Marine Lines, the owner of the barge, said its vessel sustained damage during transit.
“We have another barge on the way. Once it arrives, we will transfer some cargo to lighten the load so both barges can resume their journeys,” a spokesperson said.
“This barge is heading south to Seattle and does not contain any groceries or supplies for Southeast Alaska. This will not cause any supply chain disruptions for Southeast Alaska communities.”
Housty said the exact contents of the barge were unknown to the First Nation, heightening concern and underlining a stance around reducing tanker traffic in that part of the Central Coast.
“In the last 10 years we’ve had a huge increase in the frequency of these sorts of incidents,” he said.
“Barges are running aground and causing messes and those sorts of things. So it’s a huge concern for us right now.”
The most notable of the marine disasters in the area was the oil spill caused by the sinking of the tugboat Nathan E. Stewart west of Bella Bella in October 2016.
Texas-based Kirby Offshore Marine Corp. was fined over $2.9 million in penalties after an estimated 110,000 litres of diesel and heavy oils spilled in sensitive fishing habitats.
Housty said four vessels were responding to the barge on Tuesday, and a rotating crew would stay in the area over the course of the night.
“It kind of sheds light on a grey area for us when we have these American tug and barges coming through Canadian waters, and there seems to be a whole lot of secrecy around, you know, what these vessels are carrying and where they’re destined for,” he said.
“That [makes] it really difficult to respond to,” he added.
