A shipwreck occurred in the Broken Group Islands on the weekend, prompting the Coast Guard to rescue the two who were aboard and an assessment of how much of the trawler’s 530 litres of diesel leaked in the ocean.
According to initial reports from the Canadian Coast Guard, the Northern Challenge, a 40-foot commercial fishing trawler, hit a rock in the Broken Group at about 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 2. The vessel soon took on water and began to sink.
“Tseshaht got emails from the Coast Guard and Parks Canada that it happened near Dodd Island at a place called Galley Rock,” said Hank Gus of the Tseshaht First Nation, who leads a team of beach keepers who monitor the Broken Group Islands. “We’re working together with [Western Canadian Marine Response Corporation], Parks Canada and the Coast Guard to resolve the situation. We’re assessing everything and seeing where we can go.”
Two Coast Guard boats were dispatched, the CCG Cape Sutil and Bamfield 1, who took two people from the sinking fishing boat to Port Alberni, including the vessel’s owner.
The owner informed rescuers that the ship had about 530 litres of diesel in it, leading the Coast Guard to alert the Western Canada Marine Response Corporation, an industry funded organization that specializes in dealing with marine spills. Saturday evening a crew and vessel from WCMRC’s Port Alberni’s base was dispatched to assess the damage, arriving just before midnight.
“They didn’t see any upwelling of diesel, we stood down that night,” said Michael Lowry of WCMRC communications. “Yesterday, Sunday, we went out again and did some drone overflights, but did not see any upwelling.”
A sheen was observed on the water, but this isn’t something that a response team can normally remove after a spill, noted Lowry
“Nothing we call ‘recoverable’,” he said. “If it’s that rainbow-coloured sheen, that usually means it’s going to evaporate. It’s not something you really recover. We didn’t see any recoverable product, we didn’t require any boom or recovery from our side.”
On Sunday morning a Coast Guard team were back to assess shorelines in the area, including the Brabant, Hands, Capstan, Prideaux and Treble Islands. The shipwreck was nowhere to be seen, nor were there any signs of pollution or debris from the sinking vessel.
By noon Sunday the partially submerge trawler was seen drifting near Page Island.
“The vessel is mostly submerged, and no visible sheening or upwelling reported by the crews in the immediate vicinity,” reported the Coast Guard. “WCMRC conducted drone overflights and identified a faint sheen approximately 14 feet wide extending from the vessel toward Bryant Islands.”
By 4:15 p.m. on Sunday, May 3 the drifting Northern Challenge was secured just north of Bryant Islands.
Under Canadian law, a ship’s owner is responsible to pay for the clean up of a marine spill. But the owner in this case is unable to fund any response, according to early reports from the Coast Guard.
Records from the federal agency also indicate that the vessel needed help from the Coast Guard just days before it crashed into Galley Rock. On April 29 the Northern Challenge broke down, and was towed after requesting assistance from the Coast Guard, according to records obtained by Ha-Shilth-Sa.
