Several agencies and vessels were responding to a fuel spill from a bulk carrier in Nanaimo Harbour Wednesday morning.
Crew aboard a 180-metre cargo ship reported the bunker oil spill at about 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday while the ship was in dock at the Nanaimo cruise-ship terminal.
The Canadian Coast Guard said an unconfirmed amount of heavy fuel oil spilled during “a fuel transfer.”
Three oil-spill-response vessels were dispatched from the Western Canada Marine Response Corp (WCMRC) in Nanaimo and containment booms were placed around the Hong Kong-flagged Maipo River as the heavy bunker oil was evident on the water.
More skimming vessels, including one from the WCMRC in Sidney, are being dispatched to the area.
The Canadian Coast Guard is establishing a command post to address the emergency, Michael Lowry, communications manager for the WCMRC, said Wednesday morning.
He said it was unclear how much fuel spilled or what the spread could be around the jetty area, harbour or shorelines.
Lowry said crews shut off the fuel lines immediately after noticing the leak.
There are no estimates yet of how much fuel was spilled, he said. “It looks like most of the oil has been caught in the booms that surround the ship.”
The spill-response crews are laying containment booms and there have been initial sweeps of the harbour looking for more oil on the water, said Lowry, adding those sweeps will continue as more skimmer and containment boats are being brought to the scene.
Each of the spill-response vessels has three to four crew members, including coast guard and Nanaimo Port Authority personnel.
The coast guard’s command centre is being set up on the site to co-ordinate the cleanup and keep First Nations, municipal, provincial and federal authorities apprised, said Lowry.
The Maipo River was previously in Portland, Oregon and had arrived in Nanaimo early Wednesday. The ship was scheduled to dock at the Nanaimo Port Authority for two days.
The bulk carrier was built in 2009.
