Unmoored barge remains ashore at Sunset Beach after unsuccessful tow attempt
Posted November 15, 2021 1:37 pm.
Last Updated November 16, 2021 4:29 pm.
A barge that came unmoored and ran aground at Vancouver’s Sunset Beach is still stuck, despite the best efforts of a single tugboat.
Tuesday afternoon’s tow attempt, which lasted about 20 minutes was ultimately unsuccessful.
Happening now: the loose barge. The tugboat. They’re trying. @CityNewsVAN pic.twitter.com/jEkQ66yV0a
— Kier Junos (@kierjunos) November 16, 2021
In a statement Tuesday, the Canadian Coast Coard said the owner of the barge is responsible for moving it, and an attempt to “refloat the barge” was planned for high tide.
“The Canadian Coast Guard is in communication with the City of Vancouver, Transport Canada and the Port of Vancouver,” the statement continued.
“Coast Guard’s Vessels Of Concern (VOC) program will continue to monitor the situation and the owner’s salvage attempts.”
The Burrard Street Bridge reopened Tuesday morning, after an overnight closure due to the risk of the barge colliding with the bridge.
The City of Vancouver announced the closure Monday evening, several hours after the barge was spotted in English Bay.
“As a precaution crews will be closing Burrard Bridge at 7 p.m. due to the risk of the barge at Sunset Beach coming loose and colliding with the bridge,” says tweet from the city, adding both the Port of Vancouver and The Canadian Coast Guard are working to “assess the ongoing risk.”
The bridge was expected to remain closed until at least Tuesday afternoon, according to the City of Vancouver, but shortly after 8 a.m. traffic resumed.
Images posted to social media Monday afternoon show the barge coming aground at Sunset Beach.
A look at barge at English Bay, we also have high waves and benches under water pic.twitter.com/y3eOEPsc0I
— Crystal Laderas (@CrisLaderas) November 15, 2021
At about 1 p.m., the barge was seen floating loose in choppy waters.
“I was just looking at the waves,” said Jorge Amigo, who captured stunning video footage. “Suddenly, I saw this gigantic barge in the middle of English Bay, just crossing the water incredibly fast.”
In Amigo’s video, strong waves are seen, sending the barge moving quickly through the water towards the Burrard Street Bridge.
“I was scared that the barge would continue towards the Burrard Bridge and maybe cause damage to the actual bridge, or crash into one of the marinas there. There’s a lot of boats, a lot of people there,” Amigo said.
“My first thought was ‘This is a gigantic thing that has a lot of momentum. It might crash and cause some real infrastructure damage … It was going really fast. But luckily, it just got stuck.”
THERE’S A GIANT UNMOORED BARGE ON THE LOOSE HEADING TOWARDS BURRARD BRIDGE w pic.twitter.com/bmsnbqnlv0
— Jorge Amigo (@AmigoJor) November 15, 2021
“[We] followed the barge until it crashed on sandbags at Sunset Beach,” he said, who was still standing in front of the massive barge when he spoke with CityNews.
“Every couple of minutes, you can hear the barge move a little bit. It creates a big noise.”
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