HMCS Protecteur will be towed back to Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt from Pearl Harbor — a journey of 4,300 kilometres — for any repairs and further assessment, the navy confirmed Friday.
But it’s still unknown if the supply ship, heavily damaged by fire, will sail on its own again or be scrapped. “After an initial damage assessment, it was decided to be not feasible to repair there,” said Lt. Paul Pendergast of navy public affairs.
The tow will take about three to four weeks. Details about which ship will tow Protecteur, when that will happen and what route will be taken are still being worked out.
A skeleton crew will likely be aboard during the tow. “We will know more next week,” Pendergast said, adding the ship will undergo a more thorough assessment in its home port.
Protecteur was returning home after a seven-week mission in the Pacific when a fire ripped through the engine room on the night of Feb. 27, about 630 kilometres northeast of Hawaii.
About 20 sailors who fought the fire suffered minor injuries, including dehydration, smoke inhalation and exhaustion.
There were 279 crew, 17 family members and two contractors on board. Family members are often invited on board during the final leg of a naval ship’s journey home.
Protecteur was dead in the water, without power for two days, and needed the assistance of three U.S. vessels to be towed back to Pearl Harbor in rough seas. It arrived there on March 6.
Pendergast said a damage assessment team is in Hawaii, as well as a board of inquiry that is investigating the cause of the fire, which is still unknown.
There are also about 200 Protecteur crew members still alongside the ship. “The majority will remain in Pearl Harbor to assist with preparing Protecteur for the trip,” Pendergast said. The civilians on board and several crew members with family commitments flew home last week.
Protecteur and its East Coast sister ship, HMCS Preserver, started service in 1969 and are slated for retirement around 2017. However, the federal government has not planned for replacement vessels to be ready until 2019-20.
