Barge still stuck along Esquimalt coast following windstorm
A cement barge that washed onto the coast of Esquimalt, B.C., is still stuck there on Thursday, two days after it ran aground.
The cement barge broke free of its tow cable and smashed onto the rocks of MacLoughlin Point on Tuesday night during a windstorm, which cancelled BC Ferries sailings in the region.
Since then, the wayward barge has drawn onlookers.
"There was a loud bang. I heard it, the kids heard it, everybody heard it," said an Esquimalt resident on Wednesday.
Fortunately, Transport Canada says there were no injuries in the crash and that the trapped barge is relatively harmless.
"The barge is empty, with no fuel or people on board, and poses no threat to people's safety or the marine environment," said Transport Canada spokesperson Sau Sau Liu in a statement Thursday.
Recovery efforts began on Wednesday, but as of Thursday afternoon, the barge was still stuck at MacLoughlin Point.
The trapped barge is pictured on Nov. 30. 2022. (CTV News)It's unclear when the barge will finally be freed, but Transport Canada says it's working with the barge owner to carry out a safe recovery of the vessel.
CTV News reached out to the company that owns the barge, Lafarge Canada, on Wednesday but did not receive a response.
Either way, locals say they don't want have to wait like Vancouverites did when a barge was stuck along the rocks of English Bay for nearly a year.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.