The disabled Russian cargo ship left floundering off sa国际传媒鈥檚 coast last week is safely moored in Prince Rupert. We no longer need to fear it will run aground, spilling fuel into the waters and fouling our shores.
But fears that the Simushir鈥檚 grounding would cause major environmental damage were not misplaced or exaggerated. Those who minimize the incident, perhaps trying to calm public fears, do no one any favours.
You don鈥檛 pour oil on troubled waters in sa国际传媒 when oil on troubled waters is exactly what most British Columbians fear.
Right in the front row of the 鈥淥K, folks, show鈥檚 over, nothing to see here鈥� chorus was Richmond-Steveston MLA John Yap tweeting out: 鈥淓cofearmongers can stand down.鈥�
That鈥檚 an offensive, dismissive approach to legitimate concerns. British Columbians, especially those who live along the coast, are still keenly aware of the damage caused by the Exxon Valdez when it ran aground in Alaska in 1989, spilling 35,000 tonnes of crude oil. Damaged marine environments are still recovering. Diesel oil continues to bubble up from the Queen of the North, the sa国际传媒 Ferries vessel that sank in 2006.
Even though the Simushir is a relatively small cargo ship, it carried 400 tonnes of bunker oil and 50 tonnes of diesel fuel. Had that fuel washed ashore on Haida Gwaii, it would have been the disaster many feared.
Yes, the grounding of a supertanker would have been far more serious, but dismissing the spill of the Simushir鈥檚 fuel as minor should bring to mind the words of the mortally wounded Mercutio, in Shakespeare鈥檚 Romeo and Juliet, describing his injury: 鈥淣o, 鈥檛is not so deep as a well nor so wide as a church-door, but 鈥檛is enough, 鈥檛will serve.鈥�
sa国际传媒 Environment Minister Mary Polak took a more sensible 鈥� and sensitive 鈥� tack than Yap did as she thanked those who worked to rescue the crippled ship.
鈥淎s fortunate as we were on this occasion, this event underlines the need to develop a world-leading marine response system,鈥� Polak said.
鈥淭he federal government has taken steps towards developing a world-class marine response system, but more work is required.鈥�
The Simushur incident was quickly seized on by opponents to more oil-tanker traffic in sa国际传媒 waters. And why not? An oil spill from the Russian ship would have been bad enough 鈥� a broken oil tanker would be hundreds of times worse.
It was difficult towing the Simushir to safety; it would have been impossible to perform the same rescue if the ship had been a supertanker wallowing without power in rough seas.
And despite Yap鈥檚 apparent complacency about capabilities for dealing with such incidents off sa国际传媒鈥檚 coast, Simushir鈥檚 rescue was possible only because the U.S. tugboat Barbara Foss was visiting at Prince Rupert. The Canadian Coast Guard vessel Gordon Reid had connected to the Simushir and kept it from drifting toward Haida Gwaii, but was not powerful enough to tow the ship to safety.
The rescue of the Simushir is commendable, a tribute to the skill and hard work of those who managed it. But it鈥檚 sobering to note that Canadian maritime-rescue resources were not enough to bring the ship to port. Polak is correct in stating that more work is required.
However, no matter how much money is poured into trying to prevent and mitigate marine-traffic disasters on sa国际传媒鈥檚 coast, it will never be enough for a 100 per cent guarantee against spills and other accidents. We can only try to lower the odds and limit the damage.
The rescue of the Russian ship is a relief, but it should not lull anyone into complacency.
