A decommissioned BC Ferries vessel moored off a small island in Howe Sound has become party central, and area residents are concerned it’s turning into an eyesore and a danger to public safety.
The Queen of Saanich appeared on Anvil Island in December, moored by its Sunshine Coast owners, BMH Salvage. Since then, vandals have trashed the ship, smashing windows, spraying graffiti and tossing inflated life rafts onto the decks and over the sides. Another vessel moored on the ferry’s leeward side appears to be in even rougher shape.
Neighbours on the south end of the island say they’re not pleased the floating party magnets are so close to their homes.
"I would be concerned for how long it's going to sit there and the danger factor of it,” island resident Will Unwin told CTV News.
Local resident Sarah Bates says she’d like to know that someone is taking responsibility for the derelict vessel.
"I'd like to see some kind of control over it and somebody who says it either needs to be removed or put in a place the government says is a safe place for everybody,” she said.
But Environment Minister Terry Lake says that the province and its federal counterparts can’t step in unless there is an environmental or navigational hazard.
"From a jurisdictional point of view it is complex, and we need to break down those barriers. The average person would like government to get its act together and work together,” he said.
Until the Queen of Saanich begins leaking fuel, the owners have the right to keep the ferry where they please.
Lake has said he wants to work with the federal government to come up with a strategy to deal with derelict vessels scattered in waterways across the province. The issue made the news last month when the province declared an environmental emergency after rising water on the Fraser River put another decommissioned ferry, the Queen of Sidney, and six more abandoned boats in danger of breaking free of their moorings near Mission.
With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Peter Grainger
