What will happen if the Viki Lyne II ever does sink in Ladysmith Harbour?
You can look north to Zeballos Inlet if you want a likely preview of the outcome, and perhaps an idea as to why the Coast Guard is taking the steps announced in an Aug. 11 email to the Chronicle.
A story in the online edition of the Campbell River Mirror (Aug. 4, Sunken logging camp spoils Zeballos Inlet) could foreshadow things to come in Ladysmith.
There, a derelict floating barge camp broke loose from its moorage last fall and ‘drifted around the inlet’ before coming to rest on the shoreline near Zeballos Resolution Park.
Transport Canada’s Regional Communications Advisor Jillian Glover is quoted: “At this time, the vessel is not an obstruction to navigation and the fuel tanks have been removed by the Canadian Coast Guard. As a result, Transport Canada will not be taking further action.”
In other words, if a boat sinks in Ladysmith harbour or anywhere else, as long as it’s not an environmental or navigational hazard, it’s not a responsibility of either the Coast Guard or DFO to remove it.
The Viki Lyne II is still afloat, but just barely, according to a survey commissioned by the Coast Guard.
The report said the hull of the vessel is so corroded it may already be rusted through, the vessel being kept afloat by encrusting scale and marine growth.
She was towed into Ladysmith Harbour in 2012 after she began dragging anchor near Dunsmuir Island, and was at risk of going aground.
Department of Fisheries and Oceans Communications Officer Dan Bate made it clear in an Aug. 11 email to The Chronicle that the Viki Lyne was not towed here by the Coast Guard or at their behest.
“Arrangements were made by the owner to secure it at Ladysmith Harbour,” he said. “There was no contract or direction from the Coast Guard to move or relocate the vessel to Ladysmith Harbour.”
No matter who had her towed here, as with the grounded float camp in Zeballos, Coast Guard or DFO responsibility for the Viki Lyne II would only kick in if she became an environmental threat or navigational hazard.
The DFO and Coast Guard have said she is not a navigational hazard where she is presently moored. But she does pose a significant environmental risk because of 13,000 litres of oil and ‘oily water’ still on board.
Solution? Remove the materials that threaten to pollute Ladysmith Harbour before the Viki Lyne II does sink; leave the 54 year old, 224 ton vessel for somebody else to deal with.
Listen to what Comox logger Bill Pomponio has to say about the official response when it comes to removing the derelict barge from his stretch of water.
“I have been trying for months to find someone prepared to get this sunken barge out of the inlet,” he is quoted.
“The only folks who seem to give a damn are the Ehattesaht First Nations residents at Zeballos and the village Mayor Donn Cox and his council.”
Swap in the Stz’uminus First Nation and Town of Ladysmith Council as the concerned levels of government here, and you’ll have a pretty clear idea about who’s going to be left holding the life jackets when the Viki Lynn II hits bottom.
