MV Ancier owner fined for 2024 fuel spill in Charlottetown Harbour, documents show
CBC
The owner of the MV Ancier has been fined for a fuel spill that happened in Charlottetown Harbour two years ago, CBC News has learned.
The former passenger-vehicle ferry, once known as CTMA Vacancier, spent 17 years travelling between the Magdalen Islands and Montreal.
On Jan. 14, 2024, the ship docked at Charlottetown Harbour before sailing out to be scrapped in India.
While it was being refuelled, some of that fuel spilled into the waters of the harbour. Containment and cleanup efforts began.
At the time, nearby residents said they could smell a strong odour in the Hillsborough River and could see an oily sheen on the ice and water.
CBC News has learned the vessel was eventually charged with three violations under the Canada Shipping Act, and that its owner was required to pay a penalty of $17,850.
Transport Canada's website shows the vessel was sanctioned for discharging a prescribed pollutant and for failing to properly record and report prohibited discharge from the vessel.
Following the spill, CBC News asked several federal departments for information about exactly what happened, how much fuel had spilled and whether any had been recovered.
While some information about the incident and cleanup was provided, the government did not confirm how much fuel may have been released from the ship.
CBC News filed a federal access to information request to find out more about the incident, and received 840 pages of documents, some of which don’t relate to the Ancier.
According to those documents, a flight over the harbour on Jan. 17, 2024, showed a sheen of approximately 150 litres of diesel on the water.
The Canadian Coast Guard said on Jan. 19, 2024, that about 167 litres of "non-recoverable fuel sheening" could be seen from the air.
But the documents provided show 1.3 metric tonnes, or 1,530 litres of fuel was “potentially released.” They also show a discrepancy of two metric tonnes (2,353 litres) between the fuelling company's records and the vessel's.
The documents describe the fuel as diesel, though in its initial responses in 2024, government referred to the fuel as dyed marine gas oil.
Defendants in the lawsuit filed by former Vancouver FC head coach Afshin Ghotbi over non-repayment of a $500,000 loan say the court action amounts to "blackmail by litigation."
A Toronto parks and recreation employee died on the job Wednesday morning after a suspected medical emergency at a community centre in Scarborough, according to the city.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is seeking input from Islanders into its efforts to strengthen safety in the province's school system, which includes a new sexual misconduct policy.
Construction started on a record number of dwellings in Alberta in 2025, going back at least 70 years, according to the latest data from the national housing agency.
A Toronto cobbler who has been repairing shoes for more than 20 years in Dufferin Mall says he thought he was going to lose business when his patching and stitching machine broke down last fall.
The Kamloops-based curling rink headed by Corryn Brown announced it would disband over the weekend, a few weeks after the team fell in the final round of the B.C. women's championships.
The hamlet of Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, says it is at risk of losing its water treatment system.
For more than 35 years, Calgary’s Ship & Anchor Pub on 17th Avenue S.W. has been a cherished spot to grab a pint and catch live music.
When 10-year-old Myer Gallant from O'Leary, P.E.I., was given the chance to Make-A-Wish, he didn't rush his decision.
It wasn't on the scale of March of the Penguins, but a baker's dozen of king penguins strutted through the Calgary Zoo on Wednesday to mark 14 years of the winter event.
No, it's not a scene from the 2002 movie Catch Me If You Can, where Leonardo DiCaprio poses as a pilot to defraud an airline, but it might seem familiar.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Canadians to boycott Chinese-made electric vehicles when they are allowed back into the country under a deal recently struck by Prime Minister Mark Carney.
New Democratic Party MPs are in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, for their annual caucus meeting this week, which had to get started on Tuesday without Nunavut's own MP Lori Idlout, who was delayed by a storm.