Marine firefighting crews are continuing to fight the fire burning on the Zim Kingston.
The container ship is currently anchored near Victoria after a fire was reported onboard Saturday, Oct. 23. On Friday, Oct. 22 the ship lost around 40 containers off the eastern coast of Vancouver Island.
In a series of tweets Saturday and Sunday the Canadian Coast Guard stated that 16 people had been evacuated off the ship as coast guard ships tackled the fire.
"Overnight the tug Seaspan Raven has cooled the hull of the M/V #ZimKingston by spraying the hull with cold water. Due to the nature of chemicals onboard the container ship, applying water directly to the fire is not an option," states the coast guard.
Efforts seem to be getting results this morning, as a reduction of smoke and fire has been noted. However, the large storm expected to hit B.C.s west coast may hinder those efforts.
"Gale force winds are predicted for the area. Teams will be monitoring air quality both on the water and on shore," state the coast guard.
The fire seems to have been caused by chemicals that spilled out of containers damaged by the earlier incident when containers were lost. They add there is no safety risk to people onshore.
- with files from Carla Wilson / Times Colonist
