Crew members aboard the K.J. Gardner during a Western Canada Marine Response Corporation joint training exercise in the Gulf Islands off the coast Moresby Island, B.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Photo Gallery: B.C. spill response team runs exercises
The Western Canada Marine Response Corporation exercised off Vancouver Island last month.
Five vessels, including Canada’s largest oil response ship, the nearly 75-metre-long K.J. Gardner, were out on the waters between Moresby and Pender islands.
The practice is all the more important as more ships leave Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet after the expansion of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline and talk from Alberta Premier Danielle Smith about pushing for a pipeline across British Columbia’s north.
Here are some scenes from the training exercise.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 6, 2025.
Window light is reflected as the Western Canada Marine Response Corporation’s Cormorant Sentinel sails by during a joint training exercise in the Gulf Islands area off the coast Moresby Island, B.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad HipolitoCrew members prepare to inflate a current buster six which is used as a high-speed sweeping system to collect free floating oil during a Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC), joint training exercise aboard the K.J. Gardner off the coast Moresby Island, B.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad HipolitoA spill response vessel with the Western Canada Marine Response Corporation seen during a joint training exercise off the coast Moresby Island, B.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad HipolitoA crew member from the captains deck aboard the K.J. Gardner during a Western Canada Marine Response Corporation joint training exercise off the coast Moresby Island, B.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad HipolitoCrew members prepare to inflate a current buster six which is used as a high-speed sweeping system to collect free floating oil during a Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC), joint training exercise aboard the K.J. Gardner off the coast Moresby Island, B.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad HipolitoCrew from the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue seen near the shoreline connects a containment boom with Western Canada Marine Response Corporation’s Storm Sentinel during a joint training exercise off the coast Moresby Island, B.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad HipolitoCrew members reel in a containment boom aboard the K.J. Gardner during a Western Canada Marine Response Corporation joint training exercise off the coast Moresby Island, B.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad HipolitoWestern Canada Marine Response Corporation crew members operate a crane during a joint raining exercise using an offshore 1500-foot boom to simulate a contaminant spill recovery process in the Gulf Islands off the coast Moresby Island, B.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad HipolitoWestern Canada Marine Response Corporation’s Hecate Sentinel ties up next to the K.J. Gardner following a joint training exercise off the coast Moresby Island, B.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad HipolitoA pair of orcas spotted off the coast Moresby Island, B.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad HipolitoA Western Canada Marine Response Corporation crew member prepares to raise the Canadian flag while docked at the Van Isle Marina in Sidney, B.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad HipolitoWestern Canada Marine Response Corporation base operations manager Trevor Davis communicates on the radio while aboard the Cormorant Sentinel during a joint training exercise in the Gulf Islands area off the coast Moresby Island, B.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad HipolitoBase supervisor Jashan Bains signals above as crew prepare to deploy an offshore containment boom from aboard the skimming vessel the Hecate Sentinel during a Western Canada Marine Response Corporation joint training exercise off the coast Moresby Island, B.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad HipolitoWestern Canada Marine Response Corporation’s Saturna, left, and Storm Sentinels demonstrate using a containment boom during a joint training exercise to simulate a contaminant spill recovery process off the coast Moresby Island, B.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
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