Source: Maritime Executive

The Russian general cargo/container ship Simushir adrift and laden with around 500 tons of bunker fuel and 60 tons of diesel is now under tow off the west coast of Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada. The vessel is approximately 12 nautical miles northwest of Gowgaia Bay, off Moresby Island.

The Canadian Coast Guard says the ship was incapacitated in gale force winds early Friday morning. Eleven crew are onboard, and the ship’s captain is injured. He has now been evacuated by helicopter, and the US and Canadian coast guards and a number of other vessels are responding.

Winds are reportedly blowing the ship to shore in a seven to 10 metre seas, and it was expected to run aground.

However, the Canadian Coast Guard vessel Gordon Reid has now managed to secure a line and is towing the incapacitated ship away from the Haida Gwaii coast, according to officials with the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria. Three more powerful vessels are on their way to assist.

The Haida Nation, had said the situation is dire. “The Haida Nation’s worst fear is coming true,” said president Peter Lantin. “Our priority is to minimize the impact on our homeland and get our people on-site to start dealing with the grounding. We’ll deal with the politics of the situation later.”

The 134m Simushir was built in 1998. It is controlled by Russia’s Sakhalin Shipping and classed by the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.