Marathassa, IMO 9698862 oil spill Vancouver, Canada

[dirk septer]

For photographs of bunker fuel oil spill caused by the fairly new vessel Marathassa, IMO 9698862 near Vancouver, BC, Canada see:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/in-photos-scenes-from-the-oil-spill-in-vancouvers-english-bay/article23867373/

[dirk septer]

Spill happened on a perfectly calm day during bunkering operation and was not reported by the vessel's master.
The vessel is reportedly only three months old and was on her maiden voyage to Vancouver.
Spill more significant than originally reported, and with an approaching storm, the bunker fuel is washing up on beaches of both north and south of Fraser River banks.
Also, a very slow response by Canadian Canadian Coast Guard to contain the spill made the spread worse.

[davidships]

If it was indeed during bunkering operations, that would be TWO masters that didn't report anything.  However, I haven't seen any reports of any other vessel being involved.

[dirk septer]

On April 27, Transport Canada finally allowed MV Marathassa to return to normal operations and leave Canadian waters. TC inspectors were confident the grain-carrying vessel's deficiencies had been fixed and now meets regulations and was environmentally safe to travel.

The operators of MV Marathassa have agreed to pay for cleanup and to appear in future legal
proceedings that can lead to additional fines.