The Federal Court has sided with authorities in a dispute over payment for the costs of recovering a boat that sunk twice off the shores of the Mamquam Blind Channel.
“The tug was unseaworthy and sunk,” reads the record of Justice Michael D. Manson’s judgment, which was released on Jan. 16. “The defendant [Robin Beasse] as the owner of the tug, is liable for the pollution clean-up.”
In his reasons for judgment, Manson ordered that Beasse should pay $82,512.70 plus three per cent interest to the administrator of the Ship Source Oil Pollution Fund.
The fund is administered by the government, and pays for oil spill cleanups from ships of all types.
The tug, known as the Elf, sank on Jan.14, 2014, and “caused pollution,” according to the document. The boat was towed to another location near Shannon Falls within three days, but sank again.
Court documents don’t say if the boat was raised afterwards, but mention that “the defendant’s position is that the plaintiff took no action to raise the tug after the second sinking.”
When the boat sank the first time, Beasse was aware that there were two large fuel tanks in the boat and allegedly knew it caused pollution, but he did not respond on that day to address the matter, Manson said.
Beasse raised the defence that a small aft door on the boat was torn off its hinges, meaning that a third party broke into the tug and caused it to sink.
The only way for Beasse to avoid liability was to establish that the sinking was caused by the deliberate action of a third party.
However, a surveyor who inspected the boat believed the vessel sank both times because either the fastenings or the wood around the fastenings caused a plank on the hull to spring open, Manson said.
With respect to the door, the judge said that it was found to be in good condition, “with no signs of being forced by physical action.”
When the door was inspected by all parties, it was undamaged except for one hinge. The deadbolt lock was retracted or unlocked.
Furthermore, Manson noted that the superstructure around the door opening was severely rotted.
He added a surveyor believed that the door had broken during the sinking itself, either as a result of air pressure being forced out of the vessel, or because water was rushing into the boat.
“The defendant [Robin Beasse] has failed to raise a genuine issue for trial based on purely speculative conjecture of a third party causing the first sinking, when the facts indicate that on a balance of probabilities no such activities occurred,” said Manson.
