UPDATE:
A wood chip barge that ran aground on a Saanichton beach Thursday was successfully refloated with the high tide Friday morning, the Canadian Coast Guard confirmed.
The interior of the barge was not damaged when it washed ashore near Bazan Bay.
Divers will examine the hull to make sure it is not damaged before it is towed by tugs to another location, said coast guard spokeswoman Kiri Westnedge.
“The coast guard is satisfied with the owner’s response and the barge is no longer a hazard to the public or to navigation in the area,” she said.
At 10:15 a.m. Thursday, the Canadian Coast Guard received a report that the barge had broken loose from its anchor in Saanichton Bay and was drifting north.
Cheryl Taschuk saw the barge coming around the point from her home in Ferguson Cove.
“It was really going at a fast clip because of the wind. It was coming quite close to land and then it started turning in and it turned around and got grounded,” said Taschuk.
The coast guard came by and tried towing it out with a tugboat but was unsuccessful, she said.
Westnedge said Thursday the owner had a tug and crew on-site and would monitor the barge overnight, then attempt to recover the barge from the beach just north of Mount Newton Cross Road at high tide Friday morning.
In the meantime, the coast guard issued a navigational warning to mariners in the area, she said.
The owner reported that there was no fuel on board. The Ganges Lifeboat Station crew assessed the area and observed no marine pollution around the barge.
The coast guard has not received any reports of damage to the barge or property, said Westnedge.
