A 40-foot steel vessel has sunk in Great Slave Lake, according to Fisheries and Oceans Canada. It spilled something along the way too.
As reported on the GNWT's online spill database, the sinking and spill occurred on May 12 at 7:15 p.m. in Yellowknife harbour, near Giant Mine.
Great Slave Lake is a navigable waterway, which means it falls outside of the jurisdiction of the City of Yellowknife. So, when it comes to recovering the vessel, the Canadian Coast Guard is still waiting on the needed services, according to Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
The sunken boat has been sectioned off in the meantime, with an orange perimeter and a buoy in the middle, marking where the boat is located. There's no indication of who owns the vessel or what caused it to sink.
What has been spilled also remains a mystery. Within the boat's sectioned off quarters is a small circle of thin, rainbow-like colours. Whatever the liquid is, the GNWT notes that it was 0.15 litres of it.
"We currently can’t assess the quantity or type of pollutants that may still be onboard the sunken vessel, so 300 feet of containment boom and sorbent material have been deployed to absorb and contain any potential pollutants," writes Sam Di Lorenzo, the communications person for Fisheries and Oceans Canada. "We will continue to monitor the area and take appropriate actions as needed until the vessel can be safely remediated."