Coast Guard says fire aboard cargo ship near Victoria largely out, containers still drifting off Vancouver Island
CTV
The Canadian Coast Guard on Sunday afternoon said a fire burning on board a cargo ship anchored off the coast of Vancouver Island, near Victoria, B.C., had been largely extinguished.
The Canadian Coast Guard on Sunday afternoon said a fire burning on board a cargo ship anchored off the coast of Vancouver Island, near Victoria, B.C., had been largely extinguished.
Dozen of containers, several of which contained hazardous chemicals used in mining, caught fire aboard the 260-metre-long M/V Zim Kingston on Saturday, prompting an emergency response roughly eight kilometers offshore.
“What they were attempting to do, is let the fire burn down,” said JJ Brickett, the federal incident commander for the Coast Guard.
“In other words, (let) the container consume itself with the fuel, while keeping everything around it cool,” Brickett added.
The Coast Guard evacuated 16 crew members on Saturday night, while another five remained onboard to fight the fire.
There are no reports of any injuries.
In a statement, the company that manages the Zim Kingston, Danaos Shipping Co., which is based in Greece, said the fire appeared “to have been contained.”
