According to a report from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, the loss of containers and fire on board the ZIM Kingston on Oct. 21, 2021, has raised two safety concerns.
The first is called parametric rolling, which led to the loss of containers, and the second concern addresses gaps in Canada’s preparedness to respond to marine emergencies.
The ZIM Kingston, with 21 crew members on board, was waiting for anchorage outside the Juan de Fuca Strait when a “series of side-to-side” rolls, or parametric rolling, caused 109 containers to fall overboard, the report found.
About 36 hours later, while the ship was anchored off Victoria, a fire broke out in a damaged container on board the ship that held dangerous goods.
The fire then spread to other containers on board and took five days to extinguish.
“The investigation found that the risk of parametric rolling could have been identified using guidance material that is generally available to industry; however, this material was not on board the ZIM Kingston,” the TSB report reads.
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“This investigation and several other investigations into container loss occurrences that involved parametric rolling have revealed inconsistencies and inadequacies with respect to bridge crew training and the adoption of procedures and tools to support them in managing the risk of parametric rolling.”
The report also found that because the Canadian Coast Guard does not directly participate in responding to fires on vessels, nor has fire suppression capabilities, fortunately, the ZIM Kingston’s manager had arranged for emergency response and there were two equipped vessels nearby.
“The emergency response that followed was initiated mainly due to incidental, but fortunate, circumstances. It is important not to mistake this luck for emergency preparedness, as the next time, we might not be as lucky,” said TSB chair Kathy Fox in the report.
“There needs to be more urgent and effective action to address marine emergencies in Canadian waters.”
Transport Canada is now developing regulations to require emergency response arrangements, but those are not expected to be in place until 2028.
The board said it is concerned that there are gaps in Canada’s preparedness for marine emergencies that exceed the response capacity of a vessel’s crew, posing a risk to vessels, the environment, and the health and safety of the general public.
Just four of the 109 containers that tumbled from the ship were found, although debris, ranging from refrigerators to blow-up unicorns, continued to wash up on B.C.’s beaches.