Westshore Terminals vice-president and general manager Denis Horgan provided a brief update to Delta council Monday on the December crash that damaged a conveyor system at the coal port.
"It was not one of our best days, unfortunately," Horgan said. "So as we dusted ourselves off and got over the shock, we mobilized fairly quickly to get things going."
On Dec. 7, the Panama-registered and Japan-owned bulk carrier Cape Apricot crashed into a causeway, destroying about 100 metres of the structure, including a coal conveyor system. It severed the only link with one of the port's two loading berths, knocking out half the capacity of North America's busiest coal port.
No one was injured and the ship had only minor damage.
The Transportation Safety Board is looking into the incident and Horgan said he has no idea why or how it happened at this point.
He was told it would take "quite a while" to complete the investigation.
"It is the first time in 42 years with more than 8,300 ships under our belt that we've had an incident like this and we hope not to have another one," he said.
Horgan said Westshore immediately hired a salvage company to begin the clean up. He said that all the larger pieces have been recovered and there are still a few small pieces left.
The crash resulted in several tonnes of coal spilling into the water. Horgan said Westshore would soon look at salvaging whatever coal it can without further impacting the seabed.
A company has been hired to fabricate the new trestle and a consulting firm has been brought in to supervise the environmental aspect of the salvage operation and rebuild.
Horgan said the company hopes the work will be complete between mid-February and the end of March.
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."
