23 October marked one year since the major fire onboard the Zim Kingston. On 21 October 2021, the Zim Kingston arrived near La Perouse Bank, outside of the Victoria Traffic Service (VTS) zone. It remained outside the VTS zone, navigating in a set pattern, while awaiting its scheduled arrival time. Very late in the day, as the vessel was heading north and the wind and waves coming from the southwest, the vessel rolled heavily. As a result, 109 containers fell overboard and others were damaged. On 23 October 2021 at 1028, while anchored, smoke was observed coming from near Bay 14. The smoke was checked immediately, and fire response started. MCTS Victoria was notified by the vessel, and crew onboard worked to contain the fire. Three firefighting tugs and a salvage contractor then arrived on scene to help extinguish the fire. As a precaution, sixteen crew members were evacuated from the vessel, while five crew members, including the master, remained on board. The fire was eventually contained and extinguished five days later on 28 October. A subsequent inspection revealed that the forward hatch cover of the vessel near Bay 14 was deformed, several containers onboard were damaged due to the failure of securing arrangements, and others were damaged by the fire that followed. While the Transportation Safety Board of Canada is conducting a class 2 investigation, it has not set a date to release its report of investigation.
