As storms roll in, new plans to keep container ships safe

As the winds moved into Puget Sound Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard said it was closely watching ship traffic after containers fell off a vessel last week during the “bomb cyclone” in the Pacific.

After initial estimates from the air that around 40 containers were lost, Canadian officials said the actual loss from the Zim Kingston was 109 containers.

A few have washed up on Vancouver Island.

The loss of containers, and a resulting fire, came as ships are in holding patterns because of a backup at West Coast ports.

On Thursday, as another storm arrived, U.S. Coast Guard officials said six container ships were waiting offshore and three were doing laps in the relatively protected Strait of Juan De Fuca.

Three more large container ships were anchored in Puget Sound.

As winter storms approach, the number of safe anchoring spots in Washington waters for the largest ships is down to 12 from 14 this summer.

Two spots in Bellingham Bay are too exposed to south winds from winter storms.

“We made a decision not to allow the larger container vessels to anchor in Bellingham Bay,” said Capt. Patrick Hilbert, Sector Commander and Captain of the Port for Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound.

With ships waiting up to two weeks for a space at the dock, industry leaders say they are now alerting captains before they leave Asia, so some can travel slowly or delay their departure.

“We think we’re going to be able to spread it out even to have some vessels anchoring in Asia before they depart if they know they’re going to sit there for ten days,” said Capt. Mike Moore of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association.

The Coast Guard says it is working on a reminder for mariners that some anchorages are available in Puget Sound to get out of the worst weather.

The Northwest Seaport Alliance has invited ships to tie up at unused docks while they wait.

So far, none have done it.

©2021 Cox Media Group