MV Schiedyk

[john2003]

An event from 1968 that I was unaware of.  The MV Schiedyk hit a ledge off the west coast of Vancouver Island in January 1968 and sank.  She was owned by Holland America of Rotterdam.  They declined to salvage the wreck.  Recently the wreck has started to release oil and it appears the quantity still aboard is unknown.

I was aware that the passenger ships were "dam" and the cargo ships were "dyk".  I was not aware that the cargo ships were in the Pacific Northwest as recently as 1968.

 

Hoping there isn't a large quantity of oil and they can recover it soon.  Not a good time of year.

[Alphen]

Source; https://www.verenigingdelijn.nl/index.php/vlootlijst/hal/147-schiedyk-2

 

Originally, the "Schiedyk" was built for the service between Java and New York. Completion took place on February 19, 1949. 1960 In April, the "Schiedijk" arrived at Wilton-Feijenoord for a renovation. There she also got a 2TEW 8 cylinder Sulzer diesel engine of 10,400 bhp. From May 25, the ship returned to service and sailed North Pacific Coast service with the "Dinteldyk", "Moerdyk" and "Diemerdyk". 1968 The "Schiedyk", Captain Arie van Dijk, hit the rocks near Vancouver during a voyage from Seattle to London and then sunk.

Edited December 12, 2020 by Alphen

[ski ww]

Interesting little piece of history.

[KirkNC]

Who knew...

[TiogaCruiser]

So does responsibility for clean up now belong to HAL?

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, TiogaCruiser said:

So does responsibility for clean up now belong to HAL?

The IMO Convention on Wreck Removal 2007 (Nairobi Convention) places the onus on the registered owner to remove the wreck, if the coastal state determines the wreck to be a hazard.  Obviously, the wreck happened long before the Convention, and obviously the Canadian government decided that the wreck did not pose a hazard at the time of the wreck, but now that there is a hazard to the environment, I believe they can force the owner to either remediate the oil spill or do it themselves and then seek damages for the costs from the owner.  The only exception to the Convention are wrecks caused by acts of war, and this, of course, amounts to the vast majority of oil trapped in the oceans today, as the total ships sunk during the war could hold up to 20 million tonnes of fuel.

[john2003]

8 hours ago, Alphen said:

Source; https://www.verenigingdelijn.nl/index.php/vlootlijst/hal/147-schiedyk-2

 

Originally, the "Schiedyk" was built for the service between Java and New York. Completion took place on February 19, 1949. 1960 In April, the "Schiedijk" arrived at Wilton-Feijenoord for a renovation. There she also got a 2TEW 8 cylinder Sulzer diesel engine of 10,400 bhp. From May 25, the ship returned to service and sailed North Pacific Coast service with the "Dinteldyk", "Moerdyk" and "Diemerdyk". 1968 The "Schiedyk", Captain Arie van Dijk, hit the rocks near Vancouver during a voyage from Seattle to London and then sunk.

Alphen, thanks so much for the additional information.

[KirkNC]

25 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

The IMO Convention on Wreck Removal 2007 (Nairobi Convention) places the onus on the registered owner to remove the wreck, if the coastal state determines the wreck to be a hazard.  Obviously, the wreck happened long before the Convention, and obviously the Canadian government decided that the wreck did not pose a hazard at the time of the wreck, but now that there is a hazard to the environment, I believe they can force the owner to either remediate the oil spill or do it themselves and then seek damages for the costs from the owner.  The only exception to the Convention are wrecks caused by acts of war, and this, of course, amounts to the vast majority of oil trapped in the oceans today, as the total ships sunk during the war could hold up to 20 million tonnes of fuel.

It’s always surprising to me how long these wrecks can continue to leak oil or diesel fuel.  We have fished around a wreck offshore in North Carolina that was sunk in 1942 yet still today it leaks diesel fuel.  The locals call it the Smell Wreck and before GPS and LORAN systems could find the area by the smell from the fuel.  

[Vict0riann]

59 minutes ago, KirkNC said:

It’s always surprising to me how long these wrecks can continue to leak oil or diesel fuel.  We have fished around a wreck offshore in North Carolina that was sunk in 1942 yet still today it leaks diesel fuel.  The locals call it the Smell Wreck and before GPS and LORAN systems could find the area by the smell from the fuel.  

 

And the ships sunk in Pearl Harbor..

 

 

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, KirkNC said:

It’s always surprising to me how long these wrecks can continue to leak oil or diesel fuel.  We have fished around a wreck offshore in North Carolina that was sunk in 1942 yet still today it leaks diesel fuel.  The locals call it the Smell Wreck and before GPS and LORAN systems could find the area by the smell from the fuel.  

 

33 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

 

And the ships sunk in Pearl Harbor..

 

 

Actually, the Arizona is the only wreck remaining from WW2 in Pearl Harbor, but it is leaking heavy fuel oil constantly.  The Navy dives the wreck annually, and feels that it is a ticking time bomb, but because of its status as a National Park and a war memorial, it hasn't reached the point where it is imperative to pump it out.

 

In the Thames estuary, downriver from London, there is a Victory ship with 1500 tons of explosives onboard from WW2, and the Royal Navy keeps a very close eye on this, another very significant danger.

[Aquahound]

6 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

 

Actually, the Arizona is the only wreck remaining from WW2 in Pearl Harbor, but it is leaking heavy fuel oil constantly. 

 

What about the UTAH? 

[KirkNC]

23 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

 

Actually, the Arizona is the only wreck remaining from WW2 in Pearl Harbor, but it is leaking heavy fuel oil constantly.  The Navy dives the wreck annually, and feels that it is a ticking time bomb, but because of its status as a National Park and a war memorial, it hasn't reached the point where it is imperative to pump it out.

 

In the Thames estuary, downriver from London, there is a Victory ship with 1500 tons of explosives onboard from WW2, and the Royal Navy keeps a very close eye on this, another very significant danger.

I noticed some oil rings on the surface when we visited the Arizona.

[chengkp75]

23 minutes ago, Aquahound said:

 

What about the UTAH? 

My bad, but during the operations to roll her back upright, they pumped all the oil out of her double bottom tanks.  Thanks for the correction.

[Copper10-8]

Holland Amerika Lijn's mv Schiedyk (1949-1968) was the last in a long line of HAL ships built by the Harland & Wolf yard in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She had accommodations for twelve "cabin-class" passengers and, once in service, was placed on the Rotterdam-Java (then Nederlands Indie, now Indonesia) run. She was rebuilt in 1960 which included a re-engine similar to her sister ship Soestdyk, at the Wilton-Fijenoord yard in Schiedam in the Netherlands. She was then placed on the Antwerp (Belgium)-New York run for the Red Star Line, followed by a North Pacific run. On January 4, 1968, around 0730 hrs. and under the command of Captain Arie van Dijk, she ran aground in heavy fog in the Zuciarte Channel near Bligh Island, Nootka Sound, BC and was subsequently lost at sea. All forty crew abandoned their ship (Capt. van Dijk and five other crew initially stayed onboard) and were taken onboard the Canadian Coast Guard Icebreaker CCGS Camsell    

 

 

 

 

CCGS Camsell    

Edited December 12, 2020 by Copper10-8

[canadianbear]

 

[Aquahound]

Interesting route if sailing from Seattle to London. I wonder why she was heading up the coast of Vancouver Island.....not to mention why so close to land. 🤔

[Copper10-8]

4 minutes ago, Aquahound said:

Interesting route if sailing from Seattle to London. I wonder why she was heading up the coast of Vancouver Island.....not to mention why so close to land. 🤔

 

Schiedyk (like Scheveningen, not an easy one to pronounce for non-Dutch speakers, hence you get Skeedaik) had picked up a load of 1,800 tons of wood pulp two hours earlier in Gold River, BC (up the coast and inland) and was headed back to sea (unk if to Vancouver, Seattle or elsewhere) with it, when heavy fog developed and she ran aground off Bligh (named after Captain Bligh of Mutiny of the Bounty fame) island

 

[rafinmd]

What is the relationship of Red Star Line to HAL.  Is there a connection or was the ship sold?

 

Roy

[Copper10-8]

4 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

What is the relationship of Red Star Line to HAL.  Is there a connection or was the ship sold?

 

Roy

 

Pretty sure it was just a charter since she was HAL's when the grounding/sinking occurred

[Copper10-8]

19 minutes ago, Aquahound said:

Interesting route if sailing from Seattle to London. I wonder why she was heading up the coast of Vancouver Island.....not to mention why so close to land. 🤔

 

 

Vancouver Island has some beautiful "inland ports." HAL no longer goes there often but I was working on Statendam when we sailed inland to Port Alberni, BC; awesome place/God's country!

[Aquahound]

Just now, Copper10-8 said:

 

 

Vancouver Island has some beautiful "inland ports." HAL no longer goes there often but I was working on Statendam when we sailed inland to Port Alberni, BC; awesome place/God's country!

Totally agree. I got up there summer of 19 and was able to drive a good portion of the island.  It truly is a beautiful area. 

[Vict0riann]

This was in the paper this morning:

 

[rkacruiser]

21 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Pretty sure it was just a charter since she was HAL's when the grounding/sinking occurred

 

Wasn't the Red Star Line a subsidiary of HAL?  

[rkacruiser]

I have wondered about fuel leakage from Prinsendam in the Gulf of Alaska.  From what I have learned, even with fuel tanks that had to be quite full since she was starting her trip to Asia, she is in such deep water that the cold temperature of the water would cause her fuel to almost gel which would prevent that fuel from leaking from its tanks.

 

Is what I have learned accurate?  

[chengkp75]

26 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

I have wondered about fuel leakage from Prinsendam in the Gulf of Alaska.  From what I have learned, even with fuel tanks that had to be quite full since she was starting her trip to Asia, she is in such deep water that the cold temperature of the water would cause her fuel to almost gel which would prevent that fuel from leaking from its tanks.

 

Is what I have learned accurate?  

While it is correct that colder temperatures will increase the viscosity of heavy fuel, but as the steel decomposes, the oil will come out.  No one knows what layers of heavy oil on the deep sea bed will do to the eco-structure, but there will be some light ends, especially as the oil decomposes that will come to the surface.  Residual fuel is nearly the same density as water (about 0.98), so it won't float, but again, light ends of the fuel will separate out and rise to the surface.