Spilled diesel fuel was the Coast Guard’s second priority yesterday after they established the safety of the crew of Island Joye 1, the vessel that ran aground on the Willow Point Reef yesterday morning.
“We were eventually tasked to oil spill recovery because there was some diesel lost from the vessel,” said Matahil Lawson, the officer in charge of the Campbell River Coastguard.
The initial call was for a vessel aground and Lawson said they responded in a search and rescue capacity with Coast Guard cutter Cape Palmerston, as well as Coastguard 509 from Cortes Island and the fast response craft, Campbell River 1.
They stopped the fuel flow from the vessel and deployed booms to contain the spill.
Island Joye 1 ran aground on the Willow Point Reef as the tide was ebbing at around 9:30 Sunday morning.
Lawson said the vessel was transiting up the strait and a navigational error caused the grounding.
The vessel belongs to the Kitasoo Band council in Klemtu, according to Industry Canada’s Ship Station Search database.
Once the tide change occurred, the sea tow chartered by the company that owns the vessel was able to re-float it and tow it to Discovery Harbour Marina.
People flocked to see the grounded vessel, some even walking out along the reef to get up close and personal. That portion of the Old Island Highway was slow moving and parking lots in the area were packed as people walked out to the beach with binoculars to watch.