Fire ‘stabilised’ on Vancouver-bound cargo ship spewing toxic gas off Canada
- Cargo ship Zim Kingston was carrying mining chemicals when fire broke out amid extreme weather
- Tug boats sprayed water on ship, anchored several kilometres off southern coast of Vancouver Island
The Canadian Coast Guard said Sunday that a fire spewing toxic gas from a container ship had been “stabilised” and that it now planned to deploy firefighters to the vessel to quell the rest of the blaze.
The Zim Kingston is anchored off the city of Victoria in British Columbia, in the Strait of Juan de Fuca which marks the maritime border between Canada and the United States, according to the marine tracking site MarineTraffic.
It was bound for Vancouver when the fire broke out, with the blaze reported to the Coast Guard at around 11pm local time Saturday, CBC News reported.
A total of 16 people were evacuated from the ship, with five remaining on board.
The Canadian Coast Guard announced Sunday that the fire had now “been stabilised”, while saying that strong West Coast storms expected for Monday could thwart plans to send firefighters aboard.