Cargo ship catches fire after about 40 containers sent overboard by wild weather
A fire broke out on a cargo ship in Canadian waters hours after wild weather led to about 40 shipping containers going overboard.
The containers fell from the ship, called the Zim Kingston, about midnight on Friday in rough waters near the coast of Vancouver, almost 70km west of the Straits of Juan de Fuca entrance, according to the US Coast Guard.
A helicopter was sent to track the lost shipping containers, which were found floating in the sea.
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The fire aboard Zim Kingston. Photo: Canadian Coast Guard Supplied
Two of them were known to be carrying hazardous material.
While authorities were still monitoring the adrift containers on Saturday morning, the Zim Kingston moored about eight kilometres from Victoria, British Colombia.
At about 11am, a fire broke out in ten containers still on board the ship.
Canadian Coast Guard crews evacuated sixteen people, while five crew members stayed on board to battle the blaze.
The fire continued to burn into Sunday and with gale force winds predicted to hit the area, authorities closely monitored the air and water on the coast of the Greater Victoria area.
"All fires produce toxic substances. Incident Command has detailed information on the chemicals that were on fire and are now smouldering in the containers on board," the Canadian Coast Guard said on Twitter.
Firefighting crews sprayed water onto the hull of the ship to cool it down, as the nature of chemicals on board the container ship made applying water directly to the fire not an option, according to the Canadian Coast Guard.
The fire was not stabilised until the late hours of Sunday.
The Canadian Coast Guard reported that, depending on the weather on Monday, hazardous materials firefighters would board the ship to fight any remaining fires.
The wild weather that led to the containers falling from the ship has been referred to as a 'bomb cyclone', which is when a storm's minimum air pressure drops 24 millibars or more within 24 hours, known as bombogenesis.
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