Transportation Safety Board now investigating week-long fire aboard container ship off B.C. coast

A team from theTransportationSafetyBoardhas been assigned to investigate the fire that destroyed containers aboard a freighter now moored off the south coast of Vancouver Island.

A statement from theboardsays the team will "gather information and assess the occurrence'' aboard the MV Zim Kingston.

The fire was reported in a row of containers stacked on the deck of the ship shortly after the vessel was caught in a severe storm on Oct. 22, near the entrance to Juan de Fuca Strait.

That storm also swept 109 other containers into the ocean, most of which are still missing. The few that washed ashore on northern Vancouver Island beaches have left a swath of debris ranging from refrigerators to running shoes.

The fire aboard the vessel took about a week to contain.

Danaos Shipping, which manages the Zim Kingston, said Tuesday that nearly 2,000 containers still stored on the ship are safe and will be unloaded once a berth is found.

TheTransportationSafetyBoardinvestigates marine, air, pipeline and railtransportationoccurrences, issues public reports if warranted and can make recommendations to address anysafetydeficiencies identified by its teams.