Because the so-called McBarge sinks to a watery grave, the rising downside of derelict vessels in B.C. is getting renewed consideration.
The McBarge, then often called the ‘Friendship 500,’ served as a floating restaurant on False Creek throughout Vancouver’s Expo 86. Nevertheless it has been left vacant for many years and now sits half-submerged within the Fraser River.
“It’s iconic for individuals of a sure technology as a result of it was a floating McDonald’s and it was a novelty again within the day. There was plenty of good intentions of what it might be repurposed for, and sadly, it has turn into derelict,” stated Mark Caros, a board member with the Alouette River Administration Society.
“As soon as it’s utterly submerged it turns into exponentially tougher to have it faraway from the river and from the atmosphere. In order that’s my precedence concern at this level and time is just not on our facet.”
Maple Ridge Mayor Dan Ruimy informed International Information the town has been pushing for years to have the derelict vessel eliminated.
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“That is unacceptable,” he stated.
“As a municipality, as a province, as a rustic, it shouldn’t be that troublesome to take away these hazards from our waters. It takes a really very long time it’s very expensive, and we don’t know who’s accountable in plenty of instances the house owners can’t afford to try this.”
The Canadian Coast Guard assessed the barge in 2023 and concluded there have been no pollution on board.
However Ruimy stated he doesn’t imagine which means it isn’t an environmental menace.
Caros has turn into one thing of an knowledgeable in derelict vessels and the environmental hazards they pose.
Final 12 months, he helped spearhead a cleanup within the Alouette River that pulled greater than 200 tonnes of fabric from the waterway, together with a number of boats, collapsed docks and different buildings.
The multi-jurisdictional tangle of potential authority governing the issue makes getting the inexperienced gentle — and the cash — to do one thing about it troublesome, he stated.
“There’s the Coast Guard, there’s Fisheries and Oceans Canada, there’s the Ministry of Atmosphere, there’s Transport Canada, there’s simply a number of jurisdictions which have some authority,” he stated.
“Loads of doorways get closed as a result of the sources and the need isn’t there, due to triaging different apparently extra essential conditions.”
In 2019, the federal authorities handed the Wrecked, Deserted or Hazardous Vessels Act, making it unlawful to desert a ship in Canadian waters.
As of 2023, the federal authorities had a listing of almost 1,400 derelict vessels, about two-thirds of them in B.C.
The McBarge’s destiny has since been handed over to Transport Canada, nevertheless it stays unclear when motion will likely be taken to handle it.
In 2017, owner Howard Meakin told Global News that he envisioned the McBarge as a facility that would spotlight Canada’s advances in undersea and deepwater know-how. International Information made a number of makes an attempt to contact Meaken, however didn’t obtain a response.
Likewise, Transport Canada didn’t reply to a request for remark.
© 2025 International Information, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.
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