Beaches coated with plastic pellets and burnt fiberglass. Dead fish, turtles, and birds washing up with each crashing wave. These were the scenes in Sri Lanka after the sinking of the X-Press Pearl due to a shipping container fire this past summer. The fire on board the X-Press Pearl resulted in a total loss of the vessel, an oil spill, and tons of plastic debris ending up in the ocean. Many Pacific Northwest residents do not realize how close they came to a similar scene unfolding on our coasts.

On the afternoon of October 22, the United States Coast Guard first reported that shipping containers had washed overboard from the container ship, ZIM Kingston, 43 miles west of the Straights of Juan de Fuca. Soon, the vessel would report a fire. Heading to an anchorage off the coast of Victoria, British Columbia, the Canadian Coast Guard and emergency tow vessels responded, containing the fire after several days. If it had not been for the actions of the Canadian Coast Guard, the Kingston’s crew, and local response vessels, the Kingston‘s cargo of plastic goods and hazardous materials could have washed up on our shores.

Official governmental and industry reports investigating such events typically take months, if not years, to reach their conclusions. This has not stopped maritime professionals from examining the October incident. Former captains and shipping experts quickly pointed out that the Kingston fire and near-disaster is linked to the global shipping crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. From the grounding of the Ever Given in the Suez Canal to current port congestion, the disruption that COVID-19 has caused to the global supply network has been significant. As economic activity and industrial output stagnated in 2020, ships hauled less cargo. When the global economy started up again, the shippers could not keep up. Shipping companies responded by bringing more vessels back into service and running at top speeds. The surge in demand led to skyrocketing prices for shipping a container from port to port. That demand was met, overwhelming ports with 40-foot shipping containers. The sheer volume of boxes placed more pressure on ports, trains, and trucks. Bottlenecks grew from these compounding factors at a previously unseen pace.

An important question to ask during accident investigations is: Why was the vessel where it was? The October 2021 oil spill off of Huntington Beach, CA, gives insight into the Kingston case. A reported 126,000 gallons of oil leaked from an underwater pipeline, creating an oil slick covering 14 square miles. Initial investigations suggested that a ship anchor dragged a 4,000-foot length of the pipeline, creating a 13-inch gash. Through the use of satellite data, the nonprofit organization Skytruth traced the source of the gash back to a high-wind event on January 2, 2021. There have been other high-wind events before. Ships have dragged anchor before. Why did this happen now? Experts have speculated that the increased congestion of commercial traffic resulted in more vessels at anchor. The congestion resulted in ships anchoring in commercial anchorage areas that are seldom used. Just outside the anchorage lay the pipeline. While it was charted, it is possible that vessels did not anticipate how close they were to the obstruction.

Just as the unexpected commercial vessel congestion created the conditions for the pipeline to be breached, the unprecedented storm created the conditions for the fire on the Kingston. Containers aboard the vessel collapsed in on themselves while the ship was riding out one of the strongest storms on record for the region. Before the reported loss of containers, the Kingston spent 20 hours holding position by traveling 2 to 3 knots through the storm, enduring reported wind speeds of up to 55 miles an hour and 45-foot waves. Rather than ride out the storm, which had been forecasted for days, the vessel could have entered the protected waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, potentially avoiding the incident altogether.

The incident investigation will answer why the captain of the Kingston decided to stay out of the strait. Initial reports indicate confusion about the current policies of Transport Canada, a division of the Canadian Government responsible for transportation policy. Transport Canada has plans to reduce anchorages. These policies are not due to COVID-19 and have not gone into effect; however, mixed information might be to blame. A representative of the International Transport Workers Federation claimed that “the industry is being encouraged to hold vessels offshore.” According to a member of the Canadian Chamber of Shipping that is not the case. This possible confusion combined with the captain’s prior experience may well have led to the decision to remain offshore rather than further increase congestion. Other vessels were escorted into the passage by the United States Coast Guard, who shares jurisdiction over shipping in the Strait of Juan de Fuca with the Canadian Coast Guard. Why the Kingston did not follow will be a critical question to investigate. In an attempt to reduce port congestion at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, a group of industry stakeholders instituted a policy for inbound ships to stand by at 150 miles offshore, burning fuel and remaining exposed to winter offshore weather.

The fire and the loss of over 100 containers aboard the Kingston is a significant marine casualty, but it could have been far worse. This event occurred when and where other vessels could respond, containing the losses and environmental impact. Two of the lost containers held potassium amyl-xanthate, a flammable organosulfur compound used in mining. These containers have not been found. The presence of more containers with this material or other combustible materials may have dramatically altered the magnitude of environmental impact.

An upside to recent challenges in global marine transportation is that they provide an opportunity to discuss the environmental issues surrounding shipping. At no point since the Deepwater Horizon disaster has the public been more aware of the impacts of industrial, marine transportation. Localized impacts from marine casualties such as the Wakashio, the X-Press Pearl, or ZIM Kingston are significant, but they pale in comparison to the global effects from shipping.

Recent figures of the global marine industry estimate that more than 60,000 commercial vessels are moving 11 billion metric tons of cargo annually. This amounts to 80% of world trade. Since the 1980s, the size of container ships has quadrupled, driven by a consumer desire for more goods delivered faster and at a lower price. Moving commodities comes at a cost, with shipping producing 1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases per year. Researchers have linked shipping emissions to an estimated 250,000 premature deaths annually and 6.4 million cases of asthma in children. On top of these emissions, vessels contribute to marine noise pollution, oil discharge, and invasive species transported in ballast water tanks.

Current projections suggest port congestion will continue well into 2022.  “Normal” shipping will continue to be disrupted. Efforts to increase “green” shipping through new technologies, such as new fuels and efficiency, are gaining traction. The shipping industry will take significant time and resources to change. Risks to the marine environment and coastal communities will be at heightened risk if the shipping crisis continues. Solving the shipping logistics problem is not just a commercial issue. It is an environmental issue as well.