On Tuesday, January 6th, 2026, the new oil spill response vessel located at SC’IȺNEW̱, KJ Gardner, successfully responded to and resolved a marine emergency outside of Constance Bank.

The KJ Gardner – Canada’s largest spill response vessel – arrived at SC’IȺNEW̱ in February of 2024 as part of a collaboration between SC’IȺNEW̱, KOTUG Canada, and Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC). The KJ Gardner is 245 feet, can store up to 1,000 tons of oil, and is equipped to provide around-the-clock oil spill response. As such, it is considered the “flagship of the WCMRC fleet.”

The vessel’s placement at SC’IȺNEW̱ was a strategic decision made collaboratively between KOTUG, WCMRC, and SC’IȺNEW̱ to ensure WCMRC can promptly respond to oil spills and other emergencies in Juan De Fuca Strait. This strategic placement paid off on January 6th, when a bulk carrier lost propulsion outside of Constance Bank, near Victoria. The Coast Guard immediately called upon the KJ Gardner to assist.

Once the KJ Gardner dispatched, the crew established and maintained contact with the crew of the stranded bulk carrier. With KJ Gardner’s help, the vessel safely transited to the nearby anchorage for work on her main engine. The Coast Guard ordered the KJ Gardner to remain with the bulk carrier until it could safely depart the anchorage. The KJ Gardner remained on site until 3:30AM on January 7th.

This success on January 6th arises against the backdrop of ongoing partnerships between WCMRC, KOTUG Canada, and SC’IȺNEW̱ to improve emergency response – especially oil spill response – throughout the Salish Sea.

The partnerships began in 2020, when WCMRC proposed a new oil spill response base at Cheanuh Marina as part of the Trans Mountain pipeline project. While initially uncertain about the pipeline project, SC’IȺNEW̱  ultimately welcomed the base as an opportunity to proactively protect the Sea. As Chief Russ Chipps shared during an interview for Trans Mountain:

We didn’t want to be the community that was sitting around waiting for change to happen in our own community. We wanted to be out there first. We wanted to be fins in the water. We wanted to be the first phone call when there was an accident. The only way to do that was to not accept what’s going on, but to participate in what’s going on as an equal partner.

The new base reduces the oil-spill response time for SC’IȺNEW̱’s territory from 72 hours to merely six.

SC’IȺNEW̱’s collaborative approach to spill response moved forward again in 2023, when SC’IȺNEW̱  and KOTUG Canada signed a Mutual Benefits Agreement (MBA). The MBA includes an agreement to train SC’IȺNEW̱ community members to work on the KJ Gardner, the establishment of a new floating dock in Cheanuh Marina, and a commitment to learning and operating in alignment with traditional knowledge.

WCMRC, KOTUG Canada, and SC’IȺNEW̱  continue to collaborate in new ways. In fact, in September of 2025, an WCMRC Sentinel supported Tribal Journeys by escorting canoes as they left East Sooke Park in route to Elwha.  

SC’IȺNEW̱ celebrates the KJ Gardner’s latest victory and looks forward to continuing to work with WCMRC and KOTUG Canada to uplift and upskill the community while protecting the Salish Sea.

To stay up to date on this story and the other ways SC’IȺNEW̱  is serving as a leader in marine environmental protection and oil spill response, be sure to sign up for the SC’IȺNEW newsletter.