The "Exxon Valdez" that Didn't: A Visit to the Crippled ATB Tanker, the Jake Shearer

Our Visit to the Crippled American ATB Tanker, the Jake Shearer 

by Ingmar Lee - 10,000 Ton Tanker

November 30, 2017

Today we visited the crippled American tugboat, the "Jake Shearer" after its near-disaster off the Goose Islands in Hecate Strait... The "Jake Shearer" was severely damaged the other night when its fully loaded, 10,000 deadweight-ton-capacity petroleum-barge was wrenched out of its massive locking pins and set adrift, after being hit, apparently, by a series of "rogue waves."

In storm force winds, the uncontrolled barge immediately began to drift inexorably towards the Goose Islands, about 5 miles to the north.

Our visit to the crippled American ATB Tanker, the "Jake Shearer." from Ingmar Lee on Vimeo.

With its giant hydraulic "Articoupler" locking pins damaged and non-functional, with a punctured fuel and ballast tank, without any sort of rear deck winch or conventional towing tackle, and without any sort of inflatable RIB working skiff, the "Jake Shearer" was completely unable to regain control of the massive barge as it rapidly approached the Gosling Rocks.

Although, judging by the numerous scuff marks along the sides of its hull, and by the spinning, chaotic AIS-track record of its desperate journey, it appears as though the tug had made some futile attempts to "nudge" the barge away from the reefs. It must be noted, that the worst oil-spill to ever hit the BC coast (in 1988) resulted when the tugboat "Nestucca" punched a hole in its own oil-barge in an attempt to regain control of it when it had gone adrift.

At the eleventh hour, within a stones-throw of impending disaster, and in a dangerous "Hail Mary" maneuver, the "Jake Shearer" managed to transfer some crew onto the stricken barge, who were able to drop an anchor in 200 ft of water, pay out 1000 ft of cable, after which the "Zidell Marine 277" petroleum barge, loaded to a depth of 19' on its Plimsoll gauge, fetched up about 1/2 mile from the rocks. After a harrowing, stormy night, it was finally towed to safety by the American tug, "Gulf Cajun."

The "Jake Shearer" is too damaged to navigate itself and because its locking pins do not work, it is tied-in manually with ropes into the barges stern notch. I am told that the tanker will remain in Norman Morrison Bay until Transport Canada officials deem it safe to be towed away. I have heard a report that it may require more underwater patching. It will be towed, along with its barge, via Milbanke Sound, Finlayson, Princess Royal, and Grenvill Channels, all the way to Ketchikan Alaska. Since the wreck of its sistership, the "Nathan E Stewart" last year, these channels of the BC Inside Passage have been off-limits to American tankers, but in this case, considering its problems, the "Jake Shearer" has been issued a "special exemption."

The Justin Trudeau regimes so-called "North Coast Tanker Ban" will do exactly NOTHING to prevent the ongoing transits of the BC Inside Passage and Hecate Strait by this American tanker traffic, which conducts, on average 24 round trips per year through our waters. In fact, the "North Coast Tanker Ban" entirely exempts this traffic, encourages it, and will perpetuate it with its tanker-sized, 12,500 deadweight-ton-capacity loophole. As written, the Trudeau tanker ban EXEMPTS tankers like the "Jake Shearer" which carries 1/4 of the spill volume released into the Gulf of Alaska by the Exxon Valdes from the ban.