Transportation Safety Board to investigate fire on MV Zim Kingston

Transportation Safety Board to investigate fire on MV Zim Kingston
Brad McLeod / CHEK News

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has announced that it will be investigating a fire that sparked on the Zim Kingston, anchored off the coast of Victoria, on Oct. 23.

The Transportation Safety Board — an independent agency that investigates air, marine, pipeline, and rail transportation occurrences across the country — says a team of investigators will be deployed in order to assess the incident and gather information in regards to the fire that occurred on board the container vessel.

The fire broke out on board the MV Zim Kingston, while it was anchored in Constance Bank approximately eight kilometres away from Victoria.

The Canadian Coast Guard said a total of 10 containers had caught fire onboard the vessel, however, the ship itself never caught fire.

READ MORE: Ship fire out, but search continues for lost containers from vessel off B.C.’s coast

A spokesperson with the Canadian Coast Guard told CHEK News in a series of e-mails that the fire began inside some damaged containers onboard the vessel. They also informed CHEK that more than 52,080 kilograms of potassium amylxanthate were stored inside at least two of the containers

Potassium amylxanthate is a compound that is often used in the mining industry as a mineral processing agent, according to the U.S. National Center for Biotechnology Information.

Firefighters eventually were able to board the vessel a few days after the fire started in order to tackle the smouldering containers and extinguish any remaining flames.

The vessel involved is the same ship that lost 109 shipping containers 12 nautical miles off the west coast of Vancouver Island, near Bamfield, after it encountered rough seas.

At this time, it is unclear when the Transportation Safety Board will conclude its investigation.

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