16 crew members rescued from cargo ship that continues to burn near Victoria
More than a dozen people have now been rescued from a cargo ship that caught fire Saturday morning and continues to burn near Victoria.
The Canadian Coast Guard says the fire broke out on the MV Zim Kingston, which is currently at anchor in Constance Bank near Victoria, at around 11 a.m. Saturday.
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Victoria says 16 crew members have been evacuated by Coast Guard while five remain on board as of 7:30 p.m. Saturday. They say no injuries have been reported and there has been no call to abandon ship.
The ship on fire is the same vessel that lost around 40 shipping containers Friday near Vancouver Island after it encountered rough seas.
A spokesperson for the Canadian Coast Guard told CHEK News in a series of e-mailed statements that the fire began inside damaged containers onboard the vessel and that a lifeboat — called Cape Calvert — is nearby assessing the situation.
There are more than 52,080 kilograms of potassium amylxanthate stored inside two containers on the vessel, according to the spokesperson, who also confirmed that those two containers have caught fire. 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.
