THE RECORD

February 07, 1996

BACK TO THE EGG

Suzanne Trevis

It was a dark and stormy night.......

Actually it was a clear, cold, January night. Seas were calm, visibility was good and the freighter Schjedyk was just leaving harbour on her last voyage under Dutch ownership. The 9600 tonne freighter had been loaded with pulp from the (then) Tahsis Company Pulp Mill and at 8 p.m., left port and headed west up Muchalat Inlet.

Although the captain, Arie Van Dijk, was controlling his vessel, a BC pilot was in charge of navigation until the ship hit open water. For some reason, shortly after leaving port, the vessel failed to answer the helm and at 9:30 Wednesday night they ran aground on Bligh Island.

They began taking on water immediately. The Coast Guard were called and a number of local vessels appeared on the scene. But despite the best efforts to save her, the ship sank in about 100 feet of water half way along the south side of the island at 2:10 p.m. the following day.

Fortunately for those on board all forty crew and officers abandoned ship without mishap. As tradition dictates the captain was the last to leave the vessel. Unfortunately for those of us living here, the ship went down with more than 500 tonnes of fuel oil on board. Weeks later it was still being treated with solvent. Salvage crews were sent down to see how much of the Holland America Line ships cargo could be recovered, but little could be done.

A number of local residents went out to watch the eighteen year old ship in its final hours. All manner of fish boats, pleasure boats, aluminum dingies, etc. went to see the spectacle. It made an incongruous sight in the calm, sunlight passage. After taking on water for more than sixteen hours, the ship began to roll. And as the sea, at last, began pouring into the funnel, there was an awful shudder and groan. Then, in a matter of minutes, she slipped beneath the cold, clear waters of the sound.