Fire on a container ship carrying hazardous materials off the Canadian coast: Toxic substances in sea water

A fire broke out on a container ship off the west coast of Canada. It releases toxic substances into sea water. The Canadian and US Coast Guards are monitoring the situation closely.

The Coast Guard disembarked 16 people on two ships near Victoria, a port city in British Columbia, near Vancouver and Seattle. The rescue service reported via Twitter that a fire broke out in ten containers Saturday morning local time. The Coast Guard has established a command center to manage the situation.

Rescuers are now putting out the flames and trying to recover containers that fell into the sea during Friday’s storm. A safety zone has been established around the ship. “There are currently no safety risks for people on the beach, but we will continue to monitor the situation,” the Coast Guard said.

bad weather

Canadian media reported on Saturday night that ZIM Kingston experienced bad weather on Friday, with 35 to 40 containers falling into the sea. For example, news site Global News reported that the fire broke out in two containers filled with hazardous materials, according to the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard told Radio Canada that the ship was carrying more than 52 tons of chemicals.

The ship sails under the Maltese flag and is moored near the entrance to the Juan de Fuca Strait, a strait that leads from the Pacific Ocean to Vancouver, Canada and Seattle.

Earlier this year, a massive fire on a cargo ship containing chemicals, among other things, had to be put out off the coast of Sri Lanka via an international operation. The ship “MV X-Press Pearl” caught fire for at least 13 days and lost a significant part of its cargo. The environmental damage was great.