REPORTING · 30th September 2009
Walter McFarlane
The M/V Petersfield was outbound from Kitimat BC when it ran aground in the Douglas Channel 10:46 PM on September 25th. The M/V Petersfield is owned by Gearbulk Shipping Limited. According to Gearbulk Shipping, there was a local pilot on the bridge when this happened.
“During the transit, the vessel ran aground at low speed which caused damage to the forward or bow area of the vessel. There was no injury to the vessels' personnel and no observation of any oil leak or pollution. The vessel subsequently returned to Kitimat where she is presently anchored. Fuel has been transferred from all adjacent fuel tanks as a precautionary measure only and there is no risk of any oil spillage,” said Kelly Williams, General Manager of Gearbulk Shipping Canada LTD.
“Following the incident, personnel from both Gearbulk Shipping Canada Ltd and the vessels' ship managers (KGJS) were mobilized to the vessel for precuationary purposes. In addition, representatives from both Transport Canada and the Canadian Transport Safety Board have been on board the vessel to investigate the incident,” added Williams
The vessel has been cleared by Transport Canada to set sail for Vancouver escorted by a tug for further assessment and repairs. It will be leaving Kitimat at 5:00 in the morning on October 1st. Gearbulk Shipping is still investigating the cause of the incident and are unable to provide any speculation concerning the cause of the vessel's grounding at this time.
Stay tuned for further details.
Photo Courtesy of Par Norman
Photo Courtesy of Par Norman
Photo Courtesy of Par Norman
Photo Courtesy of Par Norman
bullet dodged?
Comment by R.H. on 2nd October 2009
Nathan Cullen says we dodged a bullet here but I'm thinking there may be more bullets that are out there, than even he knows about. This incident is being reported 5 days after the fact. A ship of that size hitting an island should be a big enough event to be reported same day. Would this have been reported at all if it had not had to dock in Kitimat damaged?? If they were on thier way out and could have just kept going..... would we have been told? How many near misses have we had or how many "Light" hits have there been that we have never heard of because there was nobody around to see it, or because the damage was minimal. I think we should be very concerned. Do we have mandatory reporting for these type of incidents and if so what are the statistics??
wake-up call!
Comment by Gerry on 1st October 2009
Briiinnnnggg...
Brrriiiinngggg....!
hello...
"WAKE-UP KITIMAT...THIS IS GOD TALKIN "
We've had a landslide wipe out the Northland dock, The EXXON Valdez spill in Alaska, the great Eurocan dock fire, the sinking of the Queen of the North, now the M/V petersfield run aground slowly...thankfully...the signs are right in front of us . WE DO NOT NEED THE ENBRIDGE TERMINAL/PIPELINE HERE This is an environmental disaster just waiting to happen.
Please sign a petition, contact your MP, the Mayor, your Chief, the Premier, the Primeminister or contact Douglas Channel Watch. Lets get young kids and highschool students involved to help prevent Enbridge from setting up shop here. PLEASE!!
