Prince Rupert council to seek a Regional approach to Marine Safety in wake of Simushir incident off Haida Gwaii

The Simushir at Dock at Fairview
from a gallery of photos from the
Prince Rupert Port authority

A portion of Monday's City Council session was turned over to a discussion of the events of last weekend regarding the Russian container ship Simushir and the difficulties it ran into off the coast of Haida Gwaii.

The incident which captivated the North Coast and Haida Gwaii for three days, offered up a stark reminder for residents of the dangers for shipping in North Pacific Waters, particularly in the stormy seasons such as we are about to head into.

The marine emergency, which saw the Simushir powerless and drifting towards the Haida Gwaii coastline, featured a full response of units from the Canadian Coast Guard, Canadian Military, US Coast Guard and a private tug, the Barbra Foss normally used to haul the Aqua barge between Prince Rupert and Alaska.

The Canadian Coast Guard Vessel
Gordon Reid on patrol off the
North Coast

It's due to the efforts of all of those that took to the waters off Haida Gwaii in horrible conditions, that the worst case scenarios that were circulating through the weekend never came to pass.

The Simushir, eventually was brought to dock at Fairview Terminals for repairs, with the vessel reportedly set to depart Prince Rupert perhaps as early as Saturday.

For Prince Rupert Council the weekend events however, became the topic for much discussion, with Council members looking to reinforce their message of the need for more resources for the North Coast when it comes to Marine Search and Rescue capacity.

Mayor Mussallem started off Council's review of events, highlighting the nature of the situation and the response that was put in place to provide for the safe transit to Prince Rupert for repairs.

Following his synopsis the Mayor suggested that Regional District should be taking he lead on the issue, as the need for improved resources is something that is not limited to Prince Rupert alone.

Councillor Ashley, who sits on Regional District, reviewed the discussions that the Skeena Queen Charlotte Regional District held in the week previous regarding Marine Safety, outlining the plans from the SQCRD to write a letter of concern on the situation.

For Mayor Mussallem, however a simple letter of concern isn't quite forceful enough for this particular issue, as he recommended that the Regional District needs to bring together all the communities and the maritime partners of the region,  to show the full resolve of the North Coast and Haida Gwaii.

Councillor Ashley stated that she and Councillor Kinney could certainly take that request to Regional District, the Mayor offered SQCRD  the opportunity to contact City Manger Robert Long for more background on the City's thoughts on the issue.

Councillor Garon, offered up the recommendation of including the Canadian Coast Guard as part of any distribution list for the City or Region's efforts, stressing her belief that there is a clear need for a Search and Rescue presence required on Haida Gwaii.

In addition to her concerns on Haida Gwaii, she pointed to the anticipated increase in shipping levels for the North Coast, adding that the current levels and those predicted for the future should guide the Federal government to increase the resources for the area.

Councillor Thorkelson, then offered a motion for Council which was adopted, calling for Regional District to collect information on the issue and put together a report to be delivered to the Federal Government regarding rescue capabilities off Haida Gwaii.

With the Regional Body also to be tasked to serve as an alliance builder for communities on the issue.

A review of the eight minute discussion from Council can be found from the City's Video Archive, it starts at the 1 hour thirty four minute point and continues to 1 hour, forty two minute mark.

For more items of review on City Council Developments see our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

With Simushir in mind, focus on marine safety procedures and resources now a discussion point

Simushir at berth at Fairview Terminal
Photo from Prince Rupert Port Authority feed

The safe arrival in Prince Rupert of the Russian container Simushir on Monday morning, provided the most positive ending to what could have been a significant marine incident off the North Coast.

The events of the weekend were noted by Gail Shea, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, as the Minister took to the official DFO twitter feed to offer up her congratulations for all of the hard work of the weekend.

The three days of drama off the coast of Haida Gwaii provided for an operation which tasked units of the Canadian Coast Guard and Canadian Forces, along with the assistance of a US rescue tug and US Coast Guard assets. The good news of Monday morning, delivered through the remarkable work of many in very challenging and dangerous conditions.

And while the Simushir is now berthed dockside at Fairview Terminals awaiting repairs, there are questions being asked about the status of readiness on the North Coast for any future emergencies.

The CBC provided this interview on the theme of the time of response from the Simushir situation, which offers up some background on the challenges that face marine responders in the region.

Monday, Nathan Cullen, the NDP MP for Bulkley Valley-Skeena took the events of the weekend to the House of Commons during Question Period, directing some of his concerns to Fisheries and Oceans Minister Gail Shea, who holds responsibility for Coast Guard issues in her cabinet portfolio.




Mr. Cullen, currently has a private members bill in front of Parliament, seeking to ban the transit of oil tankers along the North Coast of British Columbia, a project mainly directed towards the Northern Gateway project.

The NDP MP recently brought some of that discussion to Prince Rupert through his "Take back our Coast" public forum.

Curiously though, part of his proposal to ban raw bitumen shipments along the nature of the Northern Gateway proposal, includes the development of oil refinery facilities on the North Coast.  A project which would still in the end find oil tankers transiting the coastal waters of the region as they take their refined cargo to foreign destinations.

Most likely aware that they would become a topic for discussion in the wake of the marine incident of the weekend, officials from Enbridge's Northern Gateway project were quick on the talking points for Monday, providing background on the response plans that they would have in place and what procedures would be required for their terminal operations.

With much attention now focused on what the province and federal government believe may be a bountiful LNG industry for the region, as well as the ongoing expansion plans for the Port of Prince Rupert, the level of ships transiting on the North Coast carrying a wide range of cargo is bound to increase by large numbers.

For many, expanding the budget and resources for both the Canadian Coast Guard and Military is a key element of any plan moving forward,

As is the need to make sure that commercial tow and pilot resources keep up to speed with the changing requirements of the North Coast.

Those were themes that found a wide review on Monday, as the post-mortem on the weekends events was conducted by a range of media outlets.  Some of that review can be found below:

CBC-- Simushir kept afloat by "blind luck," federal opposition argues
Global News-- What did we learn from the Simushir?
Vancouver Sun-- Repairs begin for disabled Russian cargo ship as it arrives in Prince Rupert
Globe and Mail-- Crippled Russian ship docked in B. C. amid safety worries
CFTK TV-- Cullen says Simushir Incident raises Questions about Coast Shipping Safety
CKNW-- Russian ship emergency prompts worries about LNG carriers

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Let's meet the Simushir

.


(Video courtesy of Council of Haida Nation You Tube channel)

Having safely arrived in port at Prince Rupert and currently tied up at the north end of Fairview Terminal to await repairs, the tale of the Simushir is for the moment going to be the latest chapter for the ongoing archive of marine events off of the North Coast.

The Russian vessel, which has been the focus of the news cycle of the last 48 hours, will continue to provide for conversation and examination, as attention turns now to the state of readiness on the North Coast and Haida Gwaii when it comes to marine emergencies.

Over the weekend, residents of Haida Gwaii watched with concern, while those on the North Coast and the rest of the province observed events with more than a passing interest as the Canadian Coast Guard, assisted by the Canadian military and US Coast Guard, launched a major maritime operation.

First to airlift the injured master of the vessel to seek medical care and then to secure the Simushir to the Coast Guard ship Gordon Reid. A process which stabilized the situation, and bought some time until the Canadian Coast Guard Wilfrid Laurier and her American counterpart the USGS Spar arrived on station to lend assistance and stand by should things take shift for the worst.

By Sunday the ocean going tug Barbara Foss had arrived to take over the transit,  delivering the Simushir to Prince Rupert in the early hours of Monday morning.

Such was the interest in the dangers faced by the ship that a Facebook page for the Simushir was quickly put together and a similar themed location on twitter #simushir  as well as the  #PrinceRupert handle were heavily used to access updates.

Simushir at Fairview Terminal, photo from
Prince Rupert Port Authority twitter feed

Another view of the Simushir
from the Prince Rupert Port Authority 

Now that the Simushir is alongside in Prince Rupert, lets see what we can learn about our temporary dockside guest, a vessel that it appears has had a run in with fame previous.

The vessel, is a part of the fleet of the Sakhalin Shipping company (SASCO), and according to the specifications page of the company was built in 1998 at the Biljisma Shipyard in the Netherlands.

The Simushir shipping schedule appears to have it on a regular transit between Washington State and points across the North Pacific on the Russian and Asian side of the ocean.

Once known as the Muntebor, the ship was renamed to her current listing, in what perhaps is a nod to what are described as one of the abandoned islands of the Kuril Islands of the Russian North Pacific coast.

For many making use of the google search engine, the word Simushir brought speedy results and an avalanche of information, loading up browsers with items related to the drama facing the vessel of the last 72 hours or so and from days beyond.

For those who would dig a little deeper into the Simushir's past, some less recent additions would highlight that this weekend was not the first time that the Russian vessel has been involved in a marine incident in 2014.

In May, the Simushir made the news when it collided with a South Korean fishing vessel in waters off of South Korea. An event that at the time resulted in the freighter being detained by South Korean officials.

Russian general cargo vessel collides with South Korean fishing vessel
Freighter Simushir detained by ROK after collision with fishing vessel

2014 clearly hasn't been a five star year for the vessel, though her latest troubles could have happened to any ship travelling on the oceans in the midst of near hurricane conditions.

Sunday the Prince Rupert Port Authority outlined through its twitter feed, that the Simushir will be at its berth on the north dock of Fairview terminals for no more than 48 hours, as repairs are made to the issues that resulted in the ship losing her power.

The Port Authority has also posted a number of photos of the vessel as it holds at Fairview awaiting those repairs (see here).

We imagine, that the crew will be glad when they can head back to their home base of Kholmsk and get a bit of time away from the Simushir.

But while they're in port in Prince Rupert, it's safe to say that the guests and their vessel will be one of the top topics of conversation around the city.

You can review the events from Friday on through the weekend from our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review