B.C. businesses feeling supply crunch from container ship mishap

While 109 containers were lost from the MV Zim Kingston, the vessel's entire manifest of some 2,000 containers remains aboard with no clear timeline for release.

As efforts continue to clean up the contents of containers lost from a freighter off Vancouver Island last month, the supply chain impact of the damaged cargo hauler is starting to be felt.

Officials say 109 containers broke free from the MV Zim Kingston in rough weather on Oct. 21, along with an unspecified number that were damaged during a fire aboard the ship days later.

But the vessel’s entire manifest of some 2,000 containers remains held up and in unknown condition aboard ship.

“We really don’t know when we’ll be getting those products,” Clint Mahlman, president and CEO of London Drugs, told Global News.

Two of the containers aboard the Zim Kingston were filled with Christmas tableware — decorations, lights and other seasonal accoutrements — destined for shelves of the retailer across B.C.

Mahlman said London Drugs had been notified that the ship’s operator had declared “general average,” a convention under maritime law which dictates that losses due to emergencies at sea be split by the shipper and its clients.

In London Drugs’ case, that means they’ve been told to begin the insurance process, and Mahlman said it’s a safe bet none of the cargo will make it to stores by Christmas.

“It’s disappointing, given that we’ve planned this months and months in advance, and to not have this product available for our customers really hurts,” he said.