The first sailing of the day departed on time from the Duke Point ferry terminal south of Nanaimo this morning, but no ships were using that terminal yesterday as crews tried to clean up a spill from the Coastal Inspiration.
An official with the Nanaimo Port Authority says 120 litres of hydraulic oil leaked from the ferry's door system just as the vessel was arriving at Duke Point from Tsawwassen yesterday morning.
Booms were deployed to keep the oil out of the Nanaimo River Estuary and the terminal was closed but most of the spill was cleaned up by last night.
No contamination of the estuary or Jack Point shoreline has been reported and port authority manager of marine operations Rodney Grounds says, unlike diesel or engine oil, hydraulic fluid is a “very light product” that doesn't contain hydrocarbons.
