For half the year, Josh Chaffey lives thousands of kilometres from home, surrounded by the rugged shorelines and forested bluffs of Beecher Bay.
From the deck of the K.J. Gardner, Canada’s largest spill response vessel, the view is spectacular – it’s a daily reminder of why his work matters, and why months on southern Vancouver Island away from family and friends in St. John’s, Nfld. are worth it.
Chaffey is chief mate aboard the 245-foot vessel, which he shares with 10 crewmates – many of them fellow East Coasters – who call the vessel home during month-long rotations.
The crew share “cozy” quarters, long shifts and the kind of camaraderie that only comes from living and working in close proximity.
“It’s good we’ve got a group of people here that have been working together for a long time,” says Chaffey. “It’s a genuinely good place, even though we’re away from home for a long time. We’ve got it pretty good, and the ship is comfortable too.”
When the long days start to drag, the crew cracks jokes to lighten the mood, says Chaffey. “We always remind ourselves it could be worse – it’s blowing 60 on the Grand Banks.”
Chaffey joined the K.J. Gardner in 2022, when it was still an anchor-handling tug and supply vessel, before its conversion into a dedicated spill response ship.
“Before Beecher Bay, we were kind of a boat for hire,” he says. “I’ve personally been involved in towing an oil rig with this ship, also a couple of barges up in Scotland.”
Now the vessel has a singular purpose: to protect the B.C. coast from environmental disaster.
The ship is the beating heart of the Beecher Bay spill response centre, one of four Western Canada Marine Response (WCMR) bases on Vancouver Island tasked with protecting B.C.’s coast and responding to oil spills.
Established to meet new standards tied to the Trans Mountain Expansion Project, the Beecher Bay facility – located on Sc’ianew First Nation territory – has slashed coastal spill response times in the Juan de Fuca Strait from 72 hours to less than six.
Chaffey and the K.J. Gardner crew – employed by international towage and maritime company KOTUG – remain onboard around the clock, ready to transport WCMR spill responders to emergencies at a moment’s notice.
The ship can hold up to 1,000 tonnes of oil, tow other large vessels in an emergency and fight fires – shooting water with a reach of a quarter-mile.
“It moves 1,000 litres of water a second,” says operations base manager Kyle Hujdic, proudly standing on the back deck of the K.J. Gardner. “It’s certified to fight oil rig fires in the North Sea or anywhere.”
The ship’s impressive capabilities don’t end there.
Its integrated Current Buster sweep system lets crews continuously skim and pump oil spills from the sea back into onboard tanks in a continuous operation – the only one of its kind in Canada, and the only system in a permanent operational state, explains Hujdic.
“To have a platform like this outfitted like this … is very unique anywhere in the world,” he adds.
It’s so unique, even the Norwegian manufacturers of the sweep system have reached out to the Beecher Bay team for operational insight and training guidance.
“Because we use this more than anybody in the world,” says Hujdic. “They get to train with it once a year, hopefully they learn what they can and then implement that again next year. Whereas we can train with this once a week – so we’re just exponentially better at using their equipment than they are.”
The K.J. Gardner is one of nine vessels stationed at Beecher Bay – soon to be 11 in January with the arrival of two new escort tugs. The fleet can support the delivery of equipment for a 20,000-tonne spill within 36 hours of activation, including: 3,080 feet of boom and a combined skimming capacity of 61 tonnes per hour.
Recovered “heavier persistent oils,” such as crude, are shipped to treatment facilities on Vancouver Island or in Richmond, where they’re repurposed into asphalt. Absorbent pads made from recycled plastic, used to soak up smaller marine diesel spills, are incinerated.
But much of Beecher Bay’s work happens before any emergency occurs.
The team spends countless hours mapping sensitive coastal areas, such as eelgrass beds, bird sanctuaries and Indigenous sites – training First Nations and Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue how to use and deploy the boom in the event of an emergency.
They also take part in weekly training drills.
“We’re ready for the worst, hoping for the best,” says Hujdic. “Train to maintain – maintain the equipment, and drill, drill, drill.”
“We’re kind of like a fire hall where we’re training and thinking about all these different scenarios … making sure we’re covering all our bases.”
Hujdic’s own path to Beecher Bay weaves through mechanics, marine science and a lifelong love of the coast.
A commercial vessel operator with a degree from the University of Victoria, he joined WCMRC over six years ago, drawn by the mix of technical challenge and environmental stewardship.
His team has responded to everything from stranded boats in Sooke Basin to months-long salvage operations in Nootka Sound.
“It’s one of those jobs where you want the experience but not the incident,” he says. “No one’s wishing for an oil spill – but we use every opportunity to learn.”
For Hujdic, what makes Beecher Bay truly special isn’t just the technology or training, it’s the people.
“I really enjoy the folks I get to work with,” he says. “I’ve got my team of 20, the amazing KOTUG crew of 11, and the admin staff – but on top of that, all the tight-knit community members we work with, whether it’s Spirit Bay or the First Nation. On a daily basis, I get to interact with people here in a really personal way.”
That connection runs deep. Hujdic lives nearby and keeps his own boat in the marina. “If I’m not working, I’m usually here,” he says.
“It’s nice being part of such a small community. I know all these guys – if someone leaves a light on in one of our boats, I just get a text message and we figure it out together. Everyone looks out for each other – it’s super rewarding that way, this space is a little bit unique that way.
“Working this close with so many good people to bring this level of emergency response to such a small corner of the world – it’s pretty awesome.”