Skip to content

Derelict ship sinks at Britannia Beach

Second vessel in three years sinks with 'hazardous' items on board

When a derelict boat sank into the waters of Howe Sound at Britannia Beach in 2008, Paul Thomas, former Maritime Heritage Society of Vancouver president, said the only reason such vessels sink is "if someone goes on board and opens a valve."

Whether or not someone opened a valve is unclear as no one but a local environmentalist has explored the vessel since it sank. What is clear is that the 1960s-era, former Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) cutter Ready is no longer afloat, having gone down early last week.

Two calls about the sinking came in to the Canadian Coast Guard spill reporting line a warning call came in on Sunday, Jan. 16 to say the vessel was leaning heavily to one side, then early on Monday, Jan. 17, a call came in to say the vessel had sunk and that light, slick diesel oil was on the water's surface.

According to Dan Bate, CCG and Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) spokesperson, the Coast Guard was notified of Ready's sinking on Jan. 17 at approximately 9 a.m. CCG crews went and assessed the situation, he said.

"The Coast Guard environmental response crews did attend the site," Bate said. "They did have a look around and did an overflight in the middle of last week.

"The end result was that there was some fuel that escaped from the vessel when it sank, but nothing recoverable."

Bate said the overflight showed approximately six litres of fuel (mostly diesel and some lubricant oil) on the surface in the immediate vicinity and nothing outside that area.

"The fuel is not recoverable because as it spreads on the surface it becomes very, very thin," Bate said. "It's that rainbow-looking material on the water and it's actually non-recoverable. There's nothing you can do to get down there and mop that up winds and evaporation takes care of the majority of that."

Bate said surrounding the affected area with a boom wouldn't make a difference and said that "in terms of quantity, six litres of fuel on the surface of the water is very, very small."

He said there are no plans to return and monitor the site, "unless there's concern of fuel in the area."

Local conservationist John Buchanan said he's concerned that fuel in the area hasn't been cleaned up.

"The fuel went all the way down Britannia Beach. The smell was really heavy all week people even smelled it on Tuesday [Jan. 18] on the highway as they were driving by and wondering what it was," Buchanan said.

He said he was astounded at what he called "zero response" on the part of the Coast Guard, especially compared to the response in 2008 when another derelict ship the wooden-hulled tug La Lumiere sank at Britannia Beach, spilling 500 litres of diesel fuel into Howe Sound.

"My biggest observation with this is the response two years ago to the tug going down and the response to this ship going down," he said. "They're just black and white, completely opposite."

Buchanan said just because there's less fuel doesn't mean the sinking doesn't warrant attention.

"You would think when there's a situation like this, the Coast Guard would contain the spill and walk up and down the beach looking for any other debris from the sinking," he said.

"In 2008, I located a 45-gallon drum of fuel half a kilometre away and so I dragged it up on the shore, contacted the Coast Guard, and they came and recovered that barrel of fuel."

This time he found the survival raft from the Ready with survival kits and other items inside.

"There was some dangerous stuff in there two ship rockets, flares and expired prescription drugs," he said, adding that he dragged the survival raft up the beach and threw it in the garbage. "What if some kids had come along and discovered this and not me?"

Bate said the Coast Guard's responsibility is limited to fuel-related issues.

"We specifically deal with fuel-related issues pollution in terms of hydrocarbons and oil, so we wouldn't necessarily be involved with any other materials off the ship like the survival raft," he said. "I believe responsibility would fall on the shoulders of the site owner at that time."

Buchanan said another responsibility that is being neglected is exploring the Ready for other hazardous materials.

Since the sinking, the vessel has been sitting just below the surface at low tide on an underwater shelf.

Buchanan, who has explored the area extensively in his canoe and with his underwater camera since the sinking, said "it wouldn't take much to push the ship into the depths."

"Right now there needs to be a game plan where they come in and refloat the ship to access any hazardous materials," he said. "I'm assuming the engine is still in the ship, so you would have crank oil that needs to be drained, there's a crane on the deck so there'll be hydraulics in there, and whatever diesel is remaining in the fuel tanks needs to be recovered."

He said there's also a fire extinguisher that will eventually corrode and whatever contents are inside will seep into the ocean.

Buchanan went out to monitor the Ready again Wednesday (Jan. 26) evening and said the situation has worsened dramatically.

"Heavy oil is now seeping from the engine room," he said. "We managed to get into the front cargo hold with the camera and there are three containers with unknown substances inside."

Buchanan has been sending updates and photos to local and provincial government officials since last week, and his most recent email conveyed his sense of urgency.

"Some type of response even at this late day would be very beneficial to contain the oil," he wrote. "Refloating this ship is paramount."

Bate said that responsibility lies with the Ready's owner. However, it's not entirely clear who the rightful owner is.

After it was decommissioned the exact date of its decommissioning isn't yet clear the Maritime Heritage Society of Vancouver acquired the Ready and moved it to Britannia to be restored. The society folded in 2002 and under the B.C. Societies Act, the B.C. Minister of Finance assumed responsibility for it.

According to Bate, that's consistent with this particular vessel.

However, when contacted, a Ministry of Finance spokesperson said derelict vessels no longer fall under the ministry's jurisdiction. At the 2010 Union of British Columbia Municipalities convention in September, Islands Trust a Gulf Islands-based, provincially created body dedicated to the protection of the islands and shorelines in the Strait of Georgia and Howe Sound co-hosted a well-attended workshop called "Finding Solutions for the Management of Derelict Vessels."

According to the Islands Trust chair Sheila Malcolmson, a joint working group was formed to come up with a strategy for the removal of derelict vessels in British Columbia.

Next week, The Chief will explore the complexities of deciding who is responsible for monitoring and removing derelict vessels in B.C.

For more photos, click to the Chief's photo galleries below.

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks