Vancouver bills back $66K in security costs for washed-up barge
City paid $58,264 for contracted security around the barge and another $7,848.23 for VPD services
The City of Vancouver says the $66,112.23 it paid out in security costs related to the barge that washed up on Sunset Beach over a year ago has been billed back to barge owner Sentry Marine Towing.
The amount includes $58,264 for contracted security costs from November 2021 to January 2022 and $7,848.23 for Vancouver Police Department services on the first two days of the incident.
The barge pulled free of its moorings during a storm and high tide before running aground on the rocks and sand at Sunset Beach on Nov. 15, 2021.
Attempts to refloat it failed, and the "barge on the beach," as it became known, turned into both a tourist attraction and social media star, drawing the curious and the selfie-seekers.
The Vancouver Park Board cheekily installed a sign designating the area "Barge Chilling Beach" in December 2021, riffing on the city's famous Dude Chilling Park.
But the joke didn't play well with everyone, and the sign was removed after an outcry over why it was approved so quickly when parks across the city still don't have signs bearing their original Indigenous names.
Eventually, a company was hired to deconstruct the 1.4 million kilogram barge, and it was removed from the popular beach piece by piece. The operation took 15 weeks and was completed in November 2022.