MOSCOW, October 18 (RIA Novosti) - Canadian authorities fear that Russian container ship drifting in rough seas off Canada's British Columbia could cause spill, so the ship is currently being towed away from Canada cost.
"The conditions are very challenging out there and that's why it did take some time to get the vessel under tow, but they have done that now and they are moving away from land and away from danger at this time," CBC News, Canada's online information source, quoted Navy Lt. Paul Pendergast as saying Saturday.
Earlier on Friday, British Columbia Environment Minister Mary Polak said in a statement published on the province's official website that "the province is also contacting its partners in the B.C. Pacific States Oil Spill Task Force both to notify them of the risk and to ask them to provide mutual aid as needed based on the outcome of efforts to restore power to the vessel".
According to CBC News, the Simushir cargo ship, with a crew of 11 on board was going from the US state of Washington to Russia and lost power on Friday morning. The captain was injured and rescued from the ship.
British Columbia still remembers the massive oil spill that occurred near Alaska in 1989, when Exxon Valdez oil tanker struck Bligh Reef and spilled 260,000 to 750,000 barrels of crude oil over the next days.
