The ship many Squamish residents love to hate might be headed back to Howe Sound – but its owner is considering another location.
The rusted vessel Spudnik will be given back to its Squamish owner Steen Larsen in New Westminster once the Canadian Coast Guard has finalized its work to reduce the risk of pollution, according to Fisheries and Oceans Canada
spokesperson Dan Bate.
Larsen confirmed he is getting his ship back.
“I feel fine, they didn’t have any right to take it in the first place, technically. So we will get it all sorted out,” Larsen said.
“As far as Spudnik is concerned… we haven’t decided where it’s going to go next,” he said in an interview Wednesday morning. “We have another location that we have been working on getting approval for… it’s not in Squamish or in the Squamish area.”
Larsen said Howe Sound at Squamish is not an ideal location. “There’s a lot of opposition in Squamish for good business,” he said. “It’s no good to us out there [in Howe Sound at Squamish]. While it was out there, people boarded it and smashed it to smithereens. It was severely vandalized.”
He said aside from the vandalism, Howe Sound is “too windy” and does not allow for good access to work on the Spudnik.
But he stopped short of saying the ship will not return to Squamish. “It’s undecided but it’s not our best option.”
Spudnik, which had been anchored out from Nexen Beach since March, broke from its mooring early on Nov. 12 and drifted out of control.
The 59.7-metre long vessel was taken under control by order of the Canadian Coast Guard later that same morning and towed to New Westminster.
“Since that time, over 30,000 litres of diesel and oily water mixture have been removed from the vessel,” Bate told the Squamish Chief. “A marine surveyor has inspected the vessel and concluded that it contains no further amounts of recoverable oil and is seaworthy and safe for transit, provided appropriate navigation and safe seamanship techniques are followed.”
According to Bate, Under the Canada Shipping Act, Fisheries and Oceans Canada can only remove a vessel from the water if the vessel is “discharging, has discharged, or is likely to discharge a pollutant that the owner is unable or unwilling to address” and only when the removal of the vessel is considered the best option.
Bate said environmental response crews visited the Spudnik and communicated with the owner several times since it was first moored. Larsen had been issued an order last October to remove the oils and lubricants on board.
According to Bate, Larsen is liable for the costs incurred by the department for responding to the incident.
