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Oil-filled WW II-era shipwreck off B.C. coast to be salvaged

The Canadian Coast Guard plans to clean up a leaking U.S. transport vessel that went down off the British Columbia coast during the Second World War.

Brigadier General M.G. Zalinski ran aground and sank during a storm in 1946

The Canadian Press ·
The Brigadier General M.G. Zalinski (left photo) was built in 1919 and was used by the U.S. Army in the Second World War and then sank in a storm in 1946. A decade ago, it was found to be leaking oil. In a patching operation since then, two Canadian Navy divers (centre) recovered its bell. Now, the Canadian Coast Guard says it wants to recover the ship from its precarious position on a steep underwater cliff (right photo). (All photos from Fisheries and Oceans Canada website)

The Canadian Coast Guard plans to clean up a leaking U.S. transport vessel that went down off the British Columbia coast following the Second World War.

The Brigadier General M.G. Zalinski ran aground and sank during a storm in 1946 in the Grenville Channel, which is about 100 kilometres south of Prince Rupert.

The coast guard has been monitoring the wreck since it was discovered a decade ago that oil leaking from the ship was making it to the ocean's surface.

A remote-control underwater vehicle found the Zalinski 34 metres down, upside down on the edge of a cliff on the ocean floor.

The agency had the ship patched by underwater divers, but experts say the vessel has continued to deteriorate and the oil needs to be removed to protect the environment.

A request for proposals was issued today, for a salvage operation expected to take three months at the end of this year.

The Coast Guard says use of the heavily-trafficked and narrow Grenville Channel will be monitored and restricted during the recovery effort.

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