PRINCE RUPERT, British Columbia — A disabled Russian container ship carrying hundreds of tons of fuel is adrift, again, but officials said Saturday there is no immediate risk of it reaching shore, hitting rocks and causing a spill.
Royal Canadian Navy Lt. Greg Menzies said a tow line from the Coast Guard ship Gordon Reid got detached, but he noted that the Russian vessel is 24 nautical miles from shore. Menzies said efforts are underway to get the line reattached.
The Canadian Coast Guard vessel Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Spar were also on hand to assist if needed, while an ocean-going tugboat was expected to arrive in the area by Sunday.
Russia’s ship, Simushir, lost power off Haida Gwaii, also known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, as it made its way from Everett, Wash., to Russia.
The 10 crew members on board were trying to repair the broken oil heater that has left the vessel disabled, Menzies said.
The Council of the Haida Nation said the weather forecast has the winds subsiding until early Sunday morning, providing a window to attach another tow line.
“There is no danger of the vessel coming ashore at this time,” said a council statement.
The Gordon Reid secured a towline Friday night, and the two vessels were moving away from the coast at 2 knots earlier Saturday. Officials said the outcome was subject to weather, but the danger has been lessened.
“The further they get away from the coast and the nearer the larger tug gets the better,” said acting Sub. Lt. Ron MacDougall.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper tweeted his thanks for the “great work” the Gordon Reid ship is doing off the coast.
The fear of oil spills is acute in British Columbia, where residents remember the Exxon Valdez disaster of 1989. Such worries have fed fierce opposition to a proposal to build a pipeline that would carry oil from Canada’s Alberta oil sands.
