Letter Minister Marc Garneau MP - Rescue Tug

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200-1627 Fort Street, Victoria BC  V8R 1H8 
Telephone  250.405.5151    Fax  250.405.5155 
Toll Free via Enquiry BC in Vancouver 604.660-2421.  
Elsewhere in BC 1.800.663.7867 
Email  information@islandstrust.bc.ca 
Web  www.islandstrust.bc.ca 
 
 
 
350 Court Street No. 1  
Friday Harbor, WA 98250 
Telephone: 360.378.2898  
Fax: 260.378.7208 
www.sanjuanco.com 
 
 
Bowen  Denman  Hornby  Gabriola Galiano  Gambier  Lasqueti  Mayne  North Pender  Salt Spring  Saturna  South Pender  Thetis 
May 31, 2018         File No.: 0400/5020-30 
 
via e-mail: mintc@tc.gc.ca 
 
The Honourable Marc Garneau, MP 
Minister of Transport 
Transport Canada 
330 Sparks Street 
Ottawa ON K1A 0N5  
 
Dear Minister Garneau:  
 
Re: Islands Trust and San Juan County joint request for standby rescue tug 
 
On behalf of the Islands Trust Council and San Juan County Council, we wish to extend our sincere thanks 
for your leadership on enhancing marine safety through the Ocean Protection Plan. We are writing jointly 
to request that a standby rescue tug be located in Sidney, British Columbia and available to Turn Point, off 
Stuart Island.  
 
We are making this joint request because both our local governments believe strongly that there is 
insufficient emergency towing capacity in the Salish Sea for current or future risk. In the narrow waterways 
and anchorages of the Salish Sea, there is a very limited window of time to respond before a vessel 
experiencing a loss of propulsion or steering might potentially run aground on the many reefs, or shoreline, 
or worse, collide with another vessel. A standby, emergency towing vessel is a key resource to help prevent 
oil spills in this ecologically-significant region characterized by many islets and submerged reefs surrounded 
by fast moving currents. 
 
The Canadian federal government’s Tanker Safety Expert Panel’s 2013 report stated that the waters around 
the southern tip of Vancouver Island were one of four areas in Canada with the highest probability of a 
large marine spill. The report also stated that the southern coast of British Columbia, including Vancouver 
Island, was one of two areas in Canada with the highest potential impact from a marine spill. 
 
Within a context of growing vessel traffic and increasing vessel sizes, we believe there is insufficient 
emergency capacity with respect to towing tugs of opportunity in the region with the necessary bollard pull 
capability, the necessary equipment, and properly trained crews ready to respond at a moment’s notice in 
poor weather and heavy seas. There is a need for an equivalent in Canada to Washington State’s Neah Bay 
emergency response towing vessel. The size of ships visiting the ports of Vancouver and Seattle are 
increasing, including some of the largest vessels visiting North America. This year, the Port of Vancouver 
will welcome the Norwegian Bliss, which is the ninth-largest cruise ship in the world at 168 gross tons, and 
in 2017 welcomed the container vessel

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