A new report reveals more details about the Spudnik, the rusty ship some Squamish residents hoped was gone for good.
In a report to District of Squamish to be presented to council on Dec. 16, Jeff Brady, response specialist with the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) reports that as of Dec. 9 the Spudnik was free to be picked up by from its current New Westminster location by its Squamish owner, Steen Larsen.
“CCG has advised the owner that he may reclaim the vessel after Dec. 9, 2014. The owner has advised CCG that he plans to reclaim the vessel, but has not identified where he plans to take it,” read the undated report from Brady.
When The Squamish Chief spoke with Larsen Wednesday morning, he noted he wasn’t sure if he would bring his vessel back to Howe Sound.
“As far as Spudnik is concerned… we haven’t decided where it’s going to go next,” he said. “We have another location that we have been working on getting approval for… it’s not in Squamish or in the Squamish area.”
The letter from Brady also outlines the state of the vessel when it was inspected a week before it broke free, the reasoning behind the Coast Guard taking control of it when it broke free from its moorings Nov. 12 and what measures officials took to clean the ship once it was taken to a salvage yard in New Westminster.
In the first week of November, the Coast Guard, Transport Canada, a representative from the Ship-Source Oil Pollution Fund and a marine surveyor inspected Spudnik, and it was confirmed a “significant amount of oil” was onboard, according to the letter. The Coast Guard based its decision to take control of the adrift vessel based on that inspection.
“When the vessel broke from its moorings, CCG felt the vessel was likely to discharge and initiated measures to prevent any possible pollution damage,” reads the report.
The Spudnik was then towed to Amix Marine Group in New Westminster. There, workers removed the oil, which consisted of petroleum, fuel oil, sludge, oil refuse and oil mixed with water, from the vessel.
According to the report, Voila Environmental Services used vacuum trucks to remove the oil from various tanks, bilges and void spaces. Amix crews vacuumed out empty tanks to clean up residual oil from pipes. They removed lube oils from sumps (engine part involved in the lubrication system) in all engines and compressors. The crews took off the paints, solvents and hydrocarbons by hand.
Crews put absorbent pads in the tanks and replaced them until there was no removable oil present.
Pictures were taken and tanks re-secured and marked them “empty. “
The report notes the owner is liable “for the costs and expenses incurred by CCG.”
After Spudnik had been cleaned, an unidentified third party marine surveyor “felt the vessel is sufficiently seaworthy for the return tow to Squamish provided the normal prudence of mariners is observed. In particular she is sufficiently stable for the intended voyage,” according to the report.
