A Russian ship the Simushir is adrift about 25 kilometres ( 15 miles) off Tasu Sound in the Queen Charlotte Islands. The lack of a timely response points to the folly of Canada's Harper Government's plan to turn Kitimat BC into a major oil port for the Northern Gateway Tar Sands pipeline.
Fuel-laden container ship adrift off coast of Haida Gwaii
The Canadian Coast Guard says the ship was incapacitated in gale force winds early Friday morning around 1:30 a.m. PT.
Haida Nation alarmed
The Council of the Haida Nation has issued an emergency alert in case the ship makes landfall, in part because the ship is reportedly carrying 470 tonnes of bunker fuel and 50 tonnes of diesel.
Rescue officials say the ship is drifting parallel to the coast so there is no imminent threat of it hitting land, but the Haida Nation is calling the situation dire, saying the ship could hit the B.C. coast before help arrives.
CHN President [kil tlaast’gaa] Peter Lantin said it's their worst fear coming true and casts doubt on the Northern Gateway Pipeline project's promises of world class oil tanker safety
"There's nothing world class about it. The fact that 20 hours is the earliest estimated time of arrival for anybody just reinforces what we have been saying all along," said Lantin in a Skype interview from Haida Gwaii.
"The systems in place are not adequate, and it's a joke. It's a joke to think they could ramp up the amount of tankers through our territory and convince us that there's world class systems in place to respond. We're scared. We're scared about what this could mean. It's the worst scenario possible"
Winds that had been gusting from the southwest are expected to change later tonight and blow directly from the west, said CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe, which would drive the ship toward the coast.
Imagine this was a supertanker drifting toward the rocky coast of the Haida Gwaii? This demonstrates that the Canadian Government's disaster response plan for its proposed oil port at Kitimat consists mostly of wishful thinking.
UPDATE
Simushir, fuel-laden Russian cargo ship, adrift off Haida Gwaii
"The province is also contacting its partners in the B.C. Pacific States Oil Spill Task Force both to notify them of the risk and to ask them to provide mutual aid as needed based on the outcome of efforts to restore power to the vessel,” a statement from her ministry said.
Acting Canadian Sub. Lt. Ron MacDougall said the Simushir is carrying "a range of hydrocarbons, mining materials and other related chemicals," which includes 400 tons of bunker oil and 50 tons of diesel.
UPDATE #2: 2:06 AM PST
Good news!
Coast guard tethers to disabled Russian cargo ship off B.C. coast
Two tugs are on their way and were supposed to arrive at 1 a.m. but because of weather will likely arrive at about 4 a.m., he said.
"We're not out of the woods yet," said Lantin. "Until they get on site we really don't have, you know, absolute security of this ship."
Lantin said an oil spill along the coast of Haida Gwaii would be a disaster.
"This is home for us. If this thing runs aground and hits in one of the most culturally sensitive areas of Haida Gwaii, it's going to have catastrophic effects," he said.
The potential for marine disasters along B.C.'s coast has become a particularly sensitive subject in recent years amid the debate over the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline. The project, if approved, would include a terminal in Kitimat, B.C., and would see tankers carrying heavy crude from Alberta traversing B.C.'s northern coast.
Lantin, whose community has staunchly opposed the Northern Gateway pipeline, said a spill in Haida Gwaii would only strengthen that opposition.
"I think regardless of what happens this is a good training exercise and an eye opener," he said. "You know it really shows us how little we're prepared ... and how much work we have to do to prepare, you know, if it happens again or when it happens again."