Bad luck and trouble: The misadventures of the MV ZIM Kingston highlights the risks of marine traffic off B.C.’s ecologically fragile coast
The MV Zim Kingston, bound for the Port of Vancouver, arrived last Thursday just outside the Strait of Juan de Fuca after crossing the Pacific laden with goods picked up in China and South Korea. It carried 2,000 containers – a few with hazardous chemicals – when it slowed to an idle, tracing the pattern of the number four in a growing October storm in the open waters of the Strait.
Concerns about marine safety in the midst of growing commercial vessel traffic have been debated for years in British Columbia because of the increased number of oil tankers that will result from the completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline. Ottawa has committed to increase ocean-protection resources in response to criticism of the project.
Danaos Shipping Co., the ship’s owner, said in a statement that it immediately notified the local port authorities to warn other vessels in the area once its cargo was lost. But the investigation of the incident was postponed until daylight when the crew could assess their losses. They would learn that at least two of the missing containers contained hazardous materials – potassium amyl xanthate and thiourea dioxide.
The emergency responders – including the officers who refused an order from the Coast Guard to abandon ship – are credited with preventing a large-scale environmental disaster. But it was mitigated in part by the good fortune that two privately owned tugs with firefighting capacity just happened to be nearby.offshore supply vessel that is expected to be in service in 2022, which will have firefighting capacity and could be used in response to similar incidents in the future.
“We got off so lucky in this,” Mr. Lahay said, adding that the incident is a troubling example of poor regulatory oversight of the country’s maritime trade. He is calling on the federal Transportation Safety Board to investigate.
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