'Exercise extreme caution': 40 shipping containers lost in rough seas off Vancouver Island
The Canadian Coast Guard and United States Coast Guard are warning boaters after 40 shipping containers were tossed from a cargo ship Friday in rough seas off Vancouver Island.
The containers were adrift approximately 69 kilometres west of Vancouver Island just before 3 p.m., according to U.S. officials.
The containers were adrift approximately 69 kilometres west of Vancouver Island just before 3 p.m., according to U.S. officials. (USCG)
The cargo vessel Zim Kingston was inbound for Vancouver when it listed to one side, dropping the containers into the ocean near the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the authorities said.
The U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center sent out a broadcast to mariners Friday afternoon warning that the lost containers may be partially submerged and not easily visible from the surface.
"Mariners should exercise extreme caution" when transiting the region, the centre warned.
The Canadian Coast Guard also sent out a notice on NavWarn about the affected area.
The containers were adrift approximately 69 kilometres west of Vancouver Island just before 3 p.m. Friday, according to U.S. officials. (USCG)
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
Eight of the containers had been located by 4 p.m., according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard's 13th District in Seattle, Wash.
Two of the lost containers contain hazardous materials that could spontaneously combust, the spokesperson said.
The Zim Kingston reported that two crushed containers on deck also contain the same hazardous and combustible material, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The containers were adrift approximately 69 kilometres west of Vancouver Island just before 3 p.m., according to U.S. officials. (USCG)
The Canadian Coast Guard says it is assessing the incident "to determine if there are pollution threats and hazards from the containers."
The organization says it's working with its U.S. counterparts under the Joint Response Team Canada-US Pacific Annex to monitor the situation.
The Maltese-flagged vessel was at the Constance Bank anchorage south of Victoria at 4:30 p.m. The Canadian Coast Guard says it is "currently safely at anchor."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.