The Canadian Coast Guard released the M/V Marathassa cargo ship this morning. The vessel has been held responsible for a several-thousand-liter spill of bunker fuel that occured in the English Bay.
At approximately 6 a.m. PT, the ship was sailing towards a Vancouver Harbor berth in order to take a load of grain and continue on its way.
Photo: Ed Cooke
The Coast Guard issued orders for the vessel to remain anchored after officials detected the oil spillage two weeks ago. It was surrounded by a boom while the appointed crews were trying to contain and clean up the spill.
“All of this material is going to be collected carefully by the appointed crews and the area is to be cleaned. While the operation takes place, we will be deploying pollution response equipment in order to be prepared for any potential further oil release.”
The ship’s hull was cleaned in order to remove oil, but Coast Guard officials commented that “a small quantity of bunker C fuel still remains adhered to the hull of the ship, just like a bathtub ring at the ship water line.”
“The appointed teams have come to the conclusion that any further efforts towards removing this ring would require using chemicals which was conceived as being unacceptable to partner agencies that are represented at incident command.”
Transport Canada is making several adjustment and preparations in order to make sure that the ship doesn’t pollute any further Canadian waters.
“The ship is going to be fully capable of moving via its own power source, but it is going to be escorted by an appointed environmental response vessel, that is to handle any potential oil release during the transit,” as it was made clear via a statement.
On April 8th the Cyprus-flagged ship was conducting its maiden voyage en route from Japan when a mechanical malfunction lead to the accidental discharge of roughly 2,700 liters of fuel into the English Bay.