Coast Guard intercepts runaway barge near Vancouver’s Sunset Beach

Crews with the Canadian Coast Guard were deployed on Tuesday to help deal with a barge adrift in English Bay near the mouth of False Creek.

The origin of the barge and how it got loose remains unclear, but a Coast Guard spokesperson said crews from the nearby Kitsilano Base were on the scene.

0:29 Vancouver’s English Bay Barge nears its end

Photos and video posted to social media showed small Coast Guard patrol vessels attempting to tow the barge and prevent it from becoming grounded near Sunset Beach.

If the barge did make landfall, it wouldn’t be the first time.

In November 2021 a similar barge broke free during powerful windstorms and became lodged on Sunset Beach, where it sat for a year before it was completely dismantled.

0:47 Strong winds push another runaway barge into English Bay

The barge became a popular tourist attraction and the subject of numerous online jokes. The Vancouver Park Board even got in on the fun, temporarily (and jokingly) renaming the beach “Barge Chilling Beach.”

In November 2023 another runaway barge broke free from its moorage buoy in English Bay but was quickly intercepted by a pair of Coast Guard vessels before running aground.

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