Transportation Safety Board to probe fire in containers on Zim Kingston, off Victoria

Richmond, B.C. -

A team from the Transportation Safety Board has been assigned to investigate the fire that destroyed containers aboard a freighter now moored off the south coast of Vancouver Island.

A statement from the board says the team will “gather information and assess the occurrence” aboard the MV Zim Kingston.

The fire was reported in a row of containers stacked on the deck of the ship shortly after the vessel was caught in a severe storm on Oct. 22, near the entrance to Juan de Fuca Strait.

That storm also swept 109 other containers into the ocean, where most are still missing, and the few that washed ashore on northern Vancouver Island beaches have left a swath of debris ranging from refrigerators to running shoes.

The fire aboard the vessel took about a week to contain.

Danaos Shipping, which manages the Zim Kingston, said Tuesday that the nearly 2,000 containers still stored on the ship are safe and will be unloaded once a berth is found.

The Transportation Safety Board investigates marine, air, pipeline and rail transportation occurrences, issues public reports if warranted and can make recommendations to address any safety deficiencies identified by its teams.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2021.