This is how several containers with dangerous material were set on fire on a cargo ship

by time news

A fire in various containers with flammable chemicals of a cargo ship surprised this Sunday off the coast of the city of Victoria, province of British Columbia, in western Canada.

As reported by the local Coast Guard, the fire affected at least ten containers on board the ship MV Zim Kingston.

The ship is anchored about 8 kilometers in front of Victoria, capital of the Canadian province, and that two of the containers that the flames grabbed contain potassium amyl xanthate, a hazardous material.

It is a powerful reagent, generally used in fast-acting circuits and especially in the treatment of minerals such as zinc marmatítico.

Canada’s Coast Guard fights container flames on a cargo ship. Photo Reuters.

As reported, the ship itself did not catch fire, but for prevention, an emergency zone of 1.8 kilometers (which is equivalent to one nautical mile) was established around the boat.

The shocking fire, however, did not present a risk to people on the coast, as noted.

“No injuries were reported. The fire seems to have been contained”, indicated Danaos Shipping Co., the company that operates the vessel, in a statement emailed to Canadian agencies.

The Joint Rescue and Coordination Center of Victoria reported that 16 crew members were evacuated of the boat, while five others, including Captain, they were still on board because they requested to stay.

Dropped containers

Michelle Imbeau, a spokesman for the Canadian Coast Guard, indicated that an Incident Command Post headed by the federal and British Columbia governments, as well as representatives from First Peoples, is coordinating a multi-departmental response to the incident.

Imbeau noted that the Command Post collaborates with the United States Coast Guard to monitor 40 containers that fell this Friday from the Zim Kingston while sailing in rough waters, and currently float about 14 miles off the west coast of Vancouver Island, near Bamfield, British Columbia.

The containers, some of which carry hazardous materials, pose a significant risk to sailors and could be difficult to recoveras storms were forecast.

A Vancouver hazardous materials crew is already involved in the operation to remove the material from the sea and the owner of the Zim Kingston has hired Resolve Marine Group, an American company, for a rescue mission, which includes firefighting and the recovery of the containers.

According to the local newspaper Toronto Star, Peter Lahay, a national coordinator for the International Federation of Transport Workers, said he contacted the federal agency and was told that no crew member was injured.

“In my opinion, after such an extraordinary container spill, maritime safety inspectors they should have been aboard that ship upon arrival. If they had, perhaps we would have known before the fire, or the possible fire, “Lahay said.

The unionist believes that the federal agency lacked funds and staff as if to arrive on time, between the containers falling and the others caught fire, and that is why “very few inspections” are carried out.

“Canada needs to improve its resilience and response to these problems. On Saturday we wasted a day trying to figure out what to do to mitigate this fire, and we should have been more prepared“, he opined.

With agencies.

DS​

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