Crews are heading off the coast of northern B.C. to prevent a 78-year-old shipwreck from leaking oil into the surrounding waters, the Canadian Coast Guard says.
The 77-metre U.S. cargo ship USAT Brigadier General M.G. Zalinski met its unfortunate end in 1946 when it struck a rock near Pitt Island, while transporting army supplies and about 700,000 litres of heavy fuel oil from Seattle, Wash. to Whittier, Alaska.
The ship sank in 20 minutes, coming to rest on a rock ledge around 35 metres under the surface of the Grenville Channel, about 100 kilometres south of Prince Rupert, B.C.
In the 78 years since, the ship has deteriorated and fuel tanks aboard have collapsed — putting oil at risk of leaking into the Pacific Ocean. According to the coast guard, a spill could cause long-term damage to the marine environment and areas of significant cultural value.
Now, crews are heading into the cold waters to remove approximately 27,000 litres of oil stored in the M.G. Zalinski.
The M.G. Zalinkski was drafted into the U.S. war effort in 1941. It regularly ferried supplies to U.S. army bases in Alaska.
It’s not the first time the wreck has threatened to leak. More than a decade ago, fishermen and First Nations reported oil slicks in the waters surrounding the M.G. Zalinski.
Coast guard crews headed to the wreck and removed as much of the slick as they could access at the time — about 44,000 litres of oil and 319,000 litres of oily water — Jeff Brady, superintendent of marine environmental hazard response with the Canadian Coast Guard, told Daybreak North on Wednesday.
Those are images of a shipwrecked U-S Army freighter. The Brigadier General M.G. Zalinski has been sitting underwater off the coast of British Columbia since 1946. Now, the Canadian Coast Guard has begun to clean up the oil that’s been leaking from it. But the timing of the work is a little curious to some.
Since then, Brady said the ship has continued to deteriorate. The coast guard returned to the wreck in 2015 to remove 3,300 litres of oil and again in 2018 to remove 300 more litres.
Now, in addition to the collapse of fuel tanks, he said the ship’s hull is weakening — once again threatening to spill oil into the ocean.
“With the [ship’s] hull integrity not intact anymore, and with oil left on board in a sensitive environment, that’s where we find ourselves now: wanting to remove that oil,” he said.
This fall, the agency has spotted oil slicks nearby, rising from the wreck.
Brady said the coast guard will head to the site with crews this week, who will drill through the wreck’s hull and pump out as much oil as they can. Then, Brady said, crews will install dome-shaped tanks — called pollution domes — above the leaks.
“We’re patching what hasn’t worked in previous operations, and as well just trying to seal down the hull as much as possible,” he said.
The operation is scheduled to take about 30 days, but could go longer if weather conditions do not allow for work.
Kiri Westnedge, a spokesperson for the Canadian Coast Guard, said they expect to recover most of the accessible oil and oily water during this expedition. Another trip may be required if fuel tanks that cannot be safely reached this time collapse in the future.
The coast guard brought on Florida-based contractor Resolve Marine to complete the project. The contractor did not respond to requests for comment.
Resolve Marine has worked with the coast guard before. In 2021, the agency hired Resolve Marine to help with cleanup of a shipwreck oil leak near Nootka Sound.
