Arbutus Ridge residents were startled by a huge bulk carrier being buffeted by strong winds not far from their homes on Thursday morning.
“It was dangerously close to our shore at Arbutus Ridge by Hatch Point,” said Marilyn Gourley, who lives on the waterfront.
“We were all emailing each other in our community here that we were all quite scared about this ship.”
Gourley and other residents of Arbutus Ridge, in the Cobble Hill area north of Mill Bay, feared the 752-foot-long Michalis had dragged its anchor in high winds and could hit a nearby fuel depot to the west.
“We’ve had very strong winds here on our shore,” said Gourley, who noticed the ship about 7:45 a.m.
Residents contacted the coast guard and Port of Vancouver.
Michelle Imbeau, spokeswoman for the Canadian Coast Guard, said an official on board the Michalis called the coast guard’s marine communications and traffic services about 7 a.m. Thursday to say they were using their engines to maintain their anchorage position.
A pilot was sent to the scene and arrived about 9:35 a.m. to help re-position the vessel and move it further away from shore, Imbeau said. That was accomplished by 10:47 a.m.
Gourley said that as the ship’s engines were running, “the captain was trying to keep the ship in position right away from the shore but the wind was gusting very strongly and it was losing position.”
The pilot got the captain to pull up the anchor and move the ship closer to Salt Spring Island, she said. “It’s about 50 feet better than it was this morning.”
The Michalis was built in 2010 and sails under the flag of Liberia. It is on its way to Vancouver after crossing the Pacific.
Residents of southern Vancouver Island’s east coast and the southern Gulf Islands have complained for several years about 33 circular-shaped anchorages for large ships heading to Vancouver. Many want to see the anchorages eliminated for large vessels, citing concerns about noise and lights.
On Thursday morning, there were 17 ships anchored.
“We do feel like we are being used as a parking lot for these commercial ships,” said Gourley. “Nothing seems to be changing. It is very, very frustrating.
“We’d like to get rid of them all.”
The South Coast Ship Watch Alliance says large commercial ships anchoring in that area are damaging an environmentally sensitive zone and creating a potential for collisions and other mishaps.
The alliance cites noise pollution from ship generators, light pollution and deterioration in air quality. Anchor chains can harm the seabed and underwater noise can affect sea life, such as southern resident killer whales, it said.
The Port of Vancouver says the bulk carrier Michalis is expected to remain at anchor off Cobble Hill for another five to eight days while waiting for a place in the port.
Alex Munro, spokesman for the Vancouver Fraser Port of Vancouver, said Friday there are no reported mechanical issues with the ship and there was no danger to the ship or the environment.
When the port is full, large container and carrier vessels are parked in the southern Gulf Islands or nearby on the east side of Vancouver Island, where there are a total of 33 anchorages.
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