The Coast Guard said crews were deployed to contain the "semi-submerged" vessel with a boom on Thursday night.

The charges followed a Transport Canada investigation into the MV Marathassa, which leaked 2,700 litres of bunker fuel in April 2015.

Charges have been laid against the owners of the MV Marathassa nearly two years after a leak of bunker fuel fouled the beaches of English Bay in Vancouver, but the company is trying to scuttle the case.