Cargo ship that caught fire and lost containers off Vancouver Island to dock in Nanaimo, B.C.
The Zim Kingston cargo ship, which lost containers and suffered a fire off Vancouver Island in late October, is finally set to dock at a port.
The ship, which has been anchored off Constance Bank near Victoria since the incident, will dock in Nanaimo on Friday.
The Zim Kingston is scheduled to arrive at the Nanaimo Port Authority's Duke Point facility overnight Friday into Saturday morning.
It will be flanked by several other ships as a precaution on its journey to the port, including a Canadian Coast Guard vessel, two tug boats, a U.S. Coast Guard vessel when it passes through American waters, and a marine mammal watch vessel and environmental monitoring vessel.
The ship will anchor off the port before coming alongside the facility, according to Nanaimo Port Authority president and CEO Ian Marr.
Only containers that were impacted by the onboard fire will be offloaded in Nanaimo.
Marr says about 60 containers in and around the burn site will be removed. A salvage plan specific to these containers is in place once they're on shore, he says.
The port authority estimates that the unloading process will take about 10 days to complete, with most hazardous materials already removed or dealt with.
The Zim Kingston will eventually head to the mainland to be fully unloaded, according to Marr.
A photo of the M/V Zim Kingston, posted by the Canadian Coast Guard on Oct. 24, 2021, shows emergency vessels spraying water on the ship's hull. (Canadian Coast Guard/Twitter)
A total of 109 containers fell off the Zim Kingston when the ship was rocked by a storm on Oct. 22.
Some 105 of the containers are believed to have sunk, according to the Canadian Coast Guard, while the remaining four containers were found washed ashore on northern Vancouver Island.
Efforts have been underway to clear the debris and containers, and the Canadian Coast Guard says roughly 27,360 kilograms of debris have been removed as of Friday.
"The ship owner will continue to check the known accumulation sites for debris every few months and remove debris likely to be from the Zim Kingston," said the Coast Guard.
"The Canadian Coast Guard will also monitor for debris when conducting overflights in the West Coast Vancouver Island area."
Anyone who spots debris or container that appears like it came from the Zim Kingston is asked to call the Canadian Coast Guard at 1-800-889-8852.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW What Canada is doing about the toxic forever chemicals in drinking water
As the United States sets its first national limits on toxic forever chemicals in drinking water, researchers say Canada is lagging when it comes to regulations.
Arrest made, manslaughter charge pending in 2022 death of Calgary toddler
Calgary police have arrested a man and a charge is pending in connection with the death of a toddler in 2022.
Prince William returns to public duties after wife Kate's cancer revelation
Prince William will return to public duties on Thursday for the first time since his wife Kate revealed she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy for cancer.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Where did the gold go? Crime expert weighs in on unfolding Pearson Airport heist investigation
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Here's why experts don't think cloud seeding played a role in Dubai's downpour
Scientists say it's highly unlikely cloud seeding is responsible for the heavy rains that have caused flooding in the United Arab Emirates this month, and that climate change is the more likely culprit.