A vessel that had 40 shipping containers fall off of it west of Vancouver Island on Friday caught fire on Saturday.
The Canadian Coast Guard confirmed to Black Press Media around 11 a.m. on Saturday, they received a report that a fire had broken out in damaged shipping containers aboard the MV Zim Kingston. The vessel is currently anchored in Constance Bank and could be seen – with what appeared to be some arising from it – from Victoria’s shore on Saturday afternoon.
The Coast Guard’s Victoria station lifeboat, Cape Calvert, is standing by near the Zim Kingston to assess the unfolding situation and as a safety vessel, Canadian Coast Guard spokesperson Michelle Imbeau said in an email.
A navigational warning, sent out early in the morning on Saturday, notified other ships that an exclusion zone of half a nautical mile was in effect around the Zim Kingston due to the danger of falling containers.
The United States Coast Guard on Friday afternoon said crews were monitoring about 40 adrift shipping containers west of the Strait of Juan de Fuca’s entrance after they had fallen off the vessel. The containers fell when the ship listed to its side due to rough seas, the U.S. Guard said. In an update a few hours later, 35 of the containers had been located. A helicopter from the Coast Guard’s Port Angeles air station located and captured images of the containers in the water on Friday evening.
#UPDATE: Imagery captured of located containers from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles helicopter. pic.twitter.com/jOr1bbdnW3
— USCGPacificNorthwest (@USCGPacificNW) October 23, 2021
READ: Warning issued after 40 shipping containers lost overboard in Strait of Juan de Fuca
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