By Gagandeep Ghuman
Published: May 25, 2013
A 40-foot landing craft was pulled out of the Howe Sound waters on April 20, a week after the 1940-build craft sank into the water few weeks ago.
A truck parked on the craft was also retrieved from the waters.
A thin sheen of oil was still visible as a crane pulled up the old craft that would eventually be taken to Sechelt to be broken as scrap.
The craft had been parked in the blind channel for over five years, said Steen Larsen, the caretaker of the boat.
Larsen said it’s a mystery how the craft sank.
“We don’t know anything about how it sank, it’s a mystery to me,” he said.
On Saturday, a mechanical crew was busy fixing the leak on the barge that would enable them to take it to Sechelt.
Watching closely from his boat was Don Robson, a local tug boat skipper.
“It’s just sad to see all the oil spilling into the water here,” he said.
“It can’t be any good.”
Larsen, however, claimed the fuel spill was insignificant.
“There was no fuel in the tank, it was empty,” he claimed.
Canadian Coast Guard officials could not be contacted, but an official was quoted in the Chief newspaper saying the vessel was leaking light oil or diesel in limited amounts.
The spokesperson, Dan Bate, told the paper several bales of sorbent boom were fixed with anchoring around the site to contain the leaked fuel.
If the spill was uncontained, it could have killed all recently laid intertidal Herring eggs, says Squamish Streamkeeper Jack Colley.
“Subtidal herring eggs would probably survive, and other fish can swim away and not be greatly affected,” Colley said.
In an interview with the Chief recently, Larsen had said he was sure his boats won’t sink.
“My boats are environmentally safe and will not sink, you can be sure of that,” he told local writer Ana Santos.
The landing craft was built in 1940, Larsen said, who didn’t own the craft, but claimed he was working on a deal with the owner.
Larsen said he planned to use the craft for transporting goods, and its sinking was unexpected.
“There was no prior warning, or I would have dealt with it,” he said.
Old, derelict, and abandoned ships are a growing problem in the province.
There is no inventory of derelict or abandoned boats in the province, although Transport Canada is said to be working on one.
Its final report was expected to be complete last summer.
Some unofficial estimates, however, have put the number of derelict ships at 200.
Sheila Malcolmson, the chair of Islands Trust BC, said there isn’t enough federal government regulation of abandoned or derelict shops on B.C. waters.
bill mccenery says
THAT DERILECT BARGE HAS BEEN TRYING TO SINK FOR YEARS . FIRST IT WOULD BE OVER ON A PORT LIST THAN GIT PUMPED OUT & LAY ON A STARBOARD LIST TILL IT GOT PUMPED , THERE WOULD BE A OIL SHEEN ON THE WATER EVERY TIME. THIS EVENT IS MINOR COMPARED TO WHEN THE OLD TUG GOES DOWN WHICH SHOULDENT BE TOO LONG NOW. JUST IMAGINE WHAT THE BILL TO THE DISTRICT OF SQUAMISH WILL BE WHEN SHE GOES DOWN. I DONT EXPECT ANYONE FROM THE DISTRICT, FISHERIES.COAST GUARD, NATIVE BAND OR THE STREAM KEEPERS TO MENTION IT THOU. NEVER HEARD A PEEP FROM ANY OF THEM WHEN THE BARGE SANK SPILLING OIL IN THE HARBOUR WHICH WENT OUT & IN WITH THE TIDE A WIPED OUT THE LARGEST HERRING EGG SPAWN I HAVE SEEN IN YEARS AND IT WAS ONLY A SMALL SPILL. JUST WAIT FOR THE TUG IT WILL BE A BEAUT. THE CHANNEL IS BEING FILLED WITH DERILICT JUNK BY A LOCAL WHO HAS NOTHING BUT JUNK. ITS TO BAD THERE IS NO DESIRE BY THOSE WHO HAVE THE POWER TO PUT A STOP TO THIS NONSENSE.. WE HAVE A LOVELY WATERWAY BUT IT IS BEING RUINED BY THOSE WHO DONT GIVE A DAMN.
Arishia says
@ bill mccenery – Your post was prescient. That old tug has sunk twice in three days now, if you were referring to the Elf.