Crews were in place Wednesday morning to haul a sunken tug boat out of the Fraser River that spilled an undetermined amount of diesel fuel from its tank when it capsized Monday.
Ledcor Group, which owns the George H. Ledcor tug, has two large marine cranes in place to lift it onto a waiting barge. But first, the vessel must be securely rigged to the cranes and government officials need to give the go-ahead.
“The second, bigger, crane just arrived,” David Hoff, Ledcor Group’s vice president of communications, told the Richmond News. “The first crane [that arrived Monday night] attached to the tug to keep it secure. The second crane is going to be hooking up shortly.”
Around 10 p.m. Monday night, the tug somehow turned over in the water and sank. Four crew members on board made it out unharmed, but it’s not known how much diesel from the tug’s 22,000-litre tank spilled into the river.
The Canadian Coast Guard was flying helicopters over the river, and tweeted Wednesday morning that an aerial view showed less fuel in the water compared to the previous day.
#CCGLive: @LedcorGroup plans to raise tugboat George H Ledcor today. Coast Guard remained on scene through the night at #FraserRiver and will remain in command while salvage efforts are underway. Helicopter flight over the area shows significant decrease in amount of oil in water
— Canadian Coast Guard (@CoastGuardCAN) August 15, 2018
Crews have boomed the area around the tug and placed absorbent mats to mitigate the spill.
Divers in the river Tuesday were also able to plug the boat’s fuel vents to prevent more diesel from leaking out.
The City of Richmond closed McDonald Beach Park because of fuel contamination in the off-leash dog area and to allow the Coast Guard exclusive use of the boat launch.
Once the tug is hauled out of the river, Hoff said various government authorities will perform inspections and assessments. It’s still not known why the tug capsized or how much fuel spilled into the river.
“It’s unfortunate that it happened,” Hoff said. “We’re happy that the four crew [members] were able to get off the boat safely. And we’re appreciative of all support from the community and government authorities.”
Once the tug is removed from the water it will be transported to Ledcor's operating centre in Richmond.
