‘We need to find a path forward’: Maple Ridge mayor wary of long cleanup after sinking of famous ‘McBarge’

An empty vessel that was once used as a floating McDonald’s started sinking Wednesday.

The famous “McBarge” – which housed a floating McDonald’s restaurant during Expo ‘86 – has been submerged in the Fraser River for less than 72 hours, but Maple Ridge Mayor Dan Ruimy is already concerned about how long it will take to dispose of the vessel.

“We’re talking to the provincial government and the federal government, of course,” Ruimy told CTV News Thursday.

“But the real question is: Why is it so difficult to remove abandoned or derelict vessels? I understand that there’s an owner on some of these – sometimes you know who they are, sometimes you don’t – but it could take years to get it out of the water, and nobody wants to pay that cost.”

In the case of the McBarge – officially known as the Seaborne II – the owner is listed in the federal vessel registration query system as Sturgeon’s Developments (GP) Ltd.

CTV News has reached out to Howard Meakin, who was the company’s president a decade ago when the vessel was moved to Maple Ridge, but has not received a response.

As reports of the McBarge sinking began to circulate on Wednesday, B.C.’s Ministry of Environment and Parks said in a statement that the vessel had been assessed by the Canadian Coast Guard in 2023 and removed from a national inventory of wrecked, abandoned or hazardous vessels.

At that time, the barge was “deemed to have no pollutants on board,” the ministry said.

According to Ruimy, that 2023 assessment was done at the request of his municipality, which he said had noticed that the vessel was “listing.”

The mayor said the city has neither the budget nor the jurisdictional authority to remove the McBarge on its own. He’s concerned that environmental or navigational hazards will develop if the vessel is not dealt with in a timely manner.

“Even though they say there’s no contaminants, the reality is you have a ship that’s sinking,” Ruimy said. “And, along with that, that ship is, God, I don’t know, 40 years old. So you’re going to have rust on there. It’s going to start to degrade.”

In a statement Friday, Transport Canada said it is aware of the sinking of the Seaborne II and is “currently assessing it in collaboration with the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.”

“Transport Canada will reach out to the barge owner and the facility owner to determine next steps as we continue to monitor the situation,” the federal agency said.

It also referred CTV News to the Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels Act, which outlines the responsibilities of private owners and the federal government regarding derelict vessels.

According to the act, it is illegal for vessel owners to allow their property to become a wreck by failing to maintain it. Failing to comply with the act can result in administrative monetary penalties of up to $50,000 for individuals and up to $250,000 for corporations.

Transport Canada’s statement made no mention of when cleanup would begin or who would be responsible for it.

“We need to find that path forward that will allow us to fix the problem,” Ruimy said. “I do not want to be dealing with this thing a year from now.”