More than 100 containers from cargo ship went overboard during B.C. storm, coast guard says

More than 100 shipping containers from the stricken cargo ship MV Zim Kingston fell overboard amid bad weather over the weekend, according to revised numbers from the Canadian Coast Guard on Wednesday.

After what it calledan extensive survey of the ship's bays Tuesday, officials and salvage crews were able to confirm 109containers are missing from what should have been about 1,000 on the upper deck. The previous estimate was 40 containers.

The Zim Kingstonwas Vancouver-bound when it caught fire on Saturday, but the trouble began a day earlier during "very heavy weather conditions."

Sixteen crew members were forced to leave the ship after smoke from threeburning containers holding a hazardous material identified as potassium amylxanthate was deemed dangerous.

The coast guard set up a one-nautical mile safety zonearound the ship, which remains anchored at Constance Bank, about eight kilometres off the coast near Victoria.

Toxic to marine life

The ship's manifestshows the samevolatile substance was being held in two of the 109missing containers.

Potassium amylxanthate, which is used in mining, is classified by the U.S. government as"spontaneously combustible"andis alsotoxic to marine life.

The manifest also revealed that thecontents of the other containers that felloverboard Saturdayinclude Christmas decorations, sofas, poker tables, metal car parts, clothing, toys, yoga mats, stand-up paddle boardsand industrial parts.

A coast guard helicopter and a Transport Canada surveillance plane are flying over the floating containers spotted in the water nearCape Scott on northern Vancouver Island and the agencies say they will assess the risks posed by the contents.

The coast guard says that while somemetal containers have been reported on shore, others are expected to sinkto the ocean bottom.