SIMIC

According to the update, responders will continue to clean up debris as the weather permits on remote impacted beaches, including Guise Bay. The Environmental Unit is working with First Nations to identify any resources at risk in the affected areas.

The 4,253-TEU Zim Kingston was still anchored off Constance Bank near Victoria, provincial capital of British Colombia as efforts to stabilise the cargo continue.

The Zim Kingston lost 109 containers overboard in heavy weather en route from Busan to Vancouver on October 22 after which a fire broke out the ship, which had been anchored off Victoria to do repairs.

The fire inside containers carrying vehicle tyres burned for a week before it was extinguished, reported The Canadian Press.

The coast guard said the cleanup will continue along northern Vancouver Island as weather allows.

Chris Lindsay, owner of Cove Adventures, said his guests described seeing a shipping container that had washed ashore near Cape Scott while on a float plane.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada said in an update that another one of the four containers was spotted by Transport Canada's National Air Surveillance Programme (NASP) near Cape Sutil at the northern end of the Island.

The contents of that container appear to have washed ashore at Palmerston Beach on the Island's northwest coast. A Vancouver Island resident posted photos to Facebook of the debris which includes refrigerators, toys, hair products, and food.

Transport Canada spokeswoman Stefana Lamasanu said most containers sink rapidly to the ocean floor once they fall into the water.

The World Shipping Council's 2020 report estimates an average of 1,382 containers are lost at sea each year.