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A federal investigation into the allision of the "Cape Apricot" with a causeway at the Westshore Terminals coal port at Roberts Bank is now underway. On Dec. 7, the bulk carriercrashed into a causeway, destroying about 100 metres of the structure, including a coal conveyer system. The ship severed the only link with one of the terminal's two loading berths, knocking out half the capacity of North America's busiest coal port. The investigation is still in the early stages. A full report will be published at the end of the investigation. Berth 1, which can handle vessels up to 260,000 deadweight tonnes using a single, rail-mounted shiploader capable of loading at a rate of 7,000 tonnes per hour, was damaged. Its loss represents a huge drop in the amount of product that can be handled at the coal port. The reconstruction could take months. The accident resulted in several tonnes of coal spilling into the water, but Westshore maintains there was minimal environmental impact and that coal is inert and not harmful in its natural state. A recovery plan is in the works to remove it. Westshore has filed a lawsuit against the ship's owners alleging the vessel was navigated, managed and operated in a negligent manner, or in the alternative, in a grossly negligent manner by her owners, master, pilot and crew.

Efforts to stop more coal from falling into the Georgia Strait were going on on Dec 9 after the "Cape Apricot" destroyed more than 100 metres of the belt leading to Westshore Terminals’ largest loading berth, dumping about 30 tons of coal from the belt into the water. Vacuum trucks spent the weekend sucking up the remaining 100 tonnes of coal stranded on the belt. An independent environmental advisor was also at the scene to assess the situation and advise Westshore how to deal with the coal in the water in an appropriate way. Westshore will wait for their advice before it demolishes the belt’s unsafe parts and starts reconstruction. The empty ship wasn’t damaged and was being loaded at Westshore’s smaller berth. Teck Resources Limited announced that it was taking steps in response to impacts to coal shipping capacity at Westshore Terminals Limited following the allision of the "Cape Apricot" with a trench that resulted in Berth 1 being out of commission for an unknown time. Teck will continue to ship through Berth 2 at Westshore and will be shifting shipping capacity to Neptune Terminals and exploring options for moving additional tonnage to Pacific Coast Terminals and Ridley Terminals. According to a preliminary assessment the sales guidance of 6.2 million tonnes for the Q4 will be met or exceeded and there is inventory space available at Westshore. The incident was not expected to have a material impact on coal production for the Q4. Report with photo: http://metronews.ca/news/vancouver/471436/westshore-terminals-spends-weekend-cleaning-up-coal-after-tanker-crash/#

The "Cape Apricot"'s mishap has put the coal conveyor system at Westshore Terminals in Vancouver out of service for an indefinite period of time, affected the port’s ability to export coal, disrupted customer deliveries and caused a yet-to-be-determined effect on the waters off the Fraser delta. The accident happened on Dec 7, 2012, at 1 a.m. while docking at Westshore Terminals in Roberts Bank. The bulker slammed into a trestle, the only link between the berth and the terminal, destroying more than 100 metres of it. The ship went right through the causeway, taking a road, the coal-carrying conveyor belt, and electric and water lines with it. The allision knocked out the largest of the port’s two berths and spilling an undetermined amount of coal into Georgia Strait. The loss of the berth, which handles ships with a cargo capacity up to 260,000 tonnes, is a significant blow to Westshore, which is North America’s largest coal exporting port. Westshore has one remaining berth, which can handle ships with a capacity of 180,000 tonnes. Report with video: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Ship+crashes+into+dock+Westshore+Terminals+spilling+coal+into+water+with+video/7667184/story.html#ixzz2EU4QcvfR