The MV Zim Kingston is en route to Nanaimo waters to offload damaged cargo from a late-October storm and fire which has kept it anchored off Victoria for several weeks. (Canadian Coast Guard)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

EN ROUTE

MV Zim Kingston arrives in Nanaimo to offload damaged containers

Dec 3, 2021 | 9:28 AM

NANAIMO — A cargo ship which caught fire and had anchored off the coast of Victoria for weeks is back on the move.

The MV Zim Kingston got back underway overnight on Thursday, Dec. 2 with a tweet from the Canadian Coast Guard confirming it was bound for Nanaimo.

The ship is being escorted by Seaspan tug vessels, a Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) ship and a U.S. Coast Guard vessel as it makes its way up to Nanaimo’s harbour this weekend.

Representatives of MV Zim Kingston have been working to finalize arrangements to safely unload the containers damaged in the fire, the CGG stated.

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The beleaguered vessel will remain anchored in the harbour until room is available at the Nanaimo Port Authority’s nearby deep sea dock at Duke Point, confirmed president Ian Marr.

“It will go to berth around December 10th, it all depends on the berth availability. They’re just not sure how long it’s going to take to get them off,” Marr said.

A salvage company has been tasked with safely disposing the materials, Marr said.

He noted the ship will eventually proceed to Vancouver’s crammed port when space becomes available. Marr pointed to severe supply chain disruptions caused by flooding which is backlogging many large cargo vessels.

“They can’t have a vessel sitting at their dock for ten days while they’re trying to unload 60 containers because there’s all of the other vessels trying to unload thousands of containers.”

Marr said upwards of around 2,000 undamaged containers on the MV Zim Kingston will be shipped by the vessel to Vancouver to unload.

Originally destined for Vancouver, the MV Zim Kingston was caught in stormy conditions upon its arrival into B.C. waters in late October, with 109 of its thousands of containers falling overboard.

The CCG stated contents of four of the containers found beached off northern Vancouver Island have been recovered, representing nearly 30,000 kilograms of material.

The rest of the containers are believed to have sunk, the CCG stated.

“The Canadian Coast Guard will continue to work with the ship’s owner to investigate possible next steps and assess the feasibility of trying to locate the 105 missing containers.”

The washed up on northern Vancouver Island. The cargo was originally loaded in China and South Korea.

A number of containers also caught fire, triggering a sea fire response from multiple agencies which took a week to extinguish.

The MV Zim Kingson’s position as of Friday, Dec. 3 at 9:15 a.m. with the giant cargo ship being escorted by multiple vessels. (Marine Tracker)

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